This image shows Mars at its best during the 2005 opposition. The orbit of Mars is not circular, and during this unusual opposition, Mars actually was closest to Earth several days before it reached opposition. This image was taken on October 30, 2005, and Mars did not reach opposition until November 7, 2005. The image of Mars swelled to a maximum apparent size of 20.2 arc-seconds during this opposition.
In this image, the dark region at the top is Niliacus Lacus. The dark region on the left includes Mare Erythraeum. The light colored area between them is Chryse. The dark finger protruding toward the center of the planet's disk from the right side is Sinus Sabaeus. The south pole of Mars is at the bottom of this image.
This image was taken from my frontyard in Scottsdale, Arizona, using a ToUcam web cam on a FCT-150 refractor with a Televue 4x PowerMate. The focal length was about f28. The images were aligned and stacked with Registax.
Constellation: Aries
RA: 03h 02m 22.5s Dec: +16d 15' 29"
October 30, 2005
Image by Sid Leach
Scottsdale, Arizona
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