Mars 2008
Mars 2005
In 2005 Mars comes to opposition on 7 November, when it will be 70.3 million
km from Earth. This is much further away than the record close approach of 55 million
km in August 2003. However despite a smaller apparent size this time viewing
conditions are actually better from Manchester because the planet is higher in
the sky.
Map And Animated Globe
Created using a custom VB program I wrote for the purpose. To create the map and animation all you need is a
set of images covering the
whole planet. The program does all the hard work of re-projection and
scaling.
CM runs from zero at right to 360°
at left
The map and globe are based on these images:
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| 16/10/05 at 00:30UTC CM=353°, D=19.5" PA=321°, Tilt
-11.9° |
26/10/05 at 02:57UTC CM=300°, D=20.10" PA=303°,
Tilt=-13.4° |
06/11/05 at 22:22UTC CM=127°, D=19.93" PA=321°,
Tilt=-15.5° |
11/11/05 at 22:45UTC CM=89°, D=19.55" PA=321,
Tilt=-16.4° |
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| 13/11/05 at 22:42UTC CM=70°, D=19.35" PA=321°,
Tilt=-16.8° |
17/11/05 at 22:46UTC CM=21° ,D=18.88" PA=321°,
Tilt=-17.4° |
18/11/05 at 22:13UTC CM=4°, D=18.76 PA=321°, Tilt=-17.6° |
19/11/05 at 22:02UTC CM=8°, D=18.32" PA=321°,
Tilt=-17.7° |
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| 26/11/05 at 20:30UTC CM=283°,D=17.59" PA=321°,
Tilt=-18.6° |
29/11/05 at 20:18UTC CM=253°, D=17.1" PA=321°,
Tilt=-18.8° |
06/12/05 at 21:08UTC CM=202°, D=15.93" PA=321°.
Tilt=-19.3° |
12/12/05 at 21:37UTC CM=154°, D=14.9", PA=321°,
Tilt=-19.5° |
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| 16/12/05 at 21:41UTC CM=118°, D=14.28"
PA=321°, Tilt=-19.5° 94% illuminated |
24/12/05 at 20:30UTC CM=27°, D=13.04", PA=321°,
Tilt=-19.3°, 92% illuminated |
03/01/06 at 21:10UTC CM=301, D=11.70" PA=321°,
Tilt=-18.7° 91.3% illuminated |
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Mars 2003
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July 13
03:30UTC
CM=076 PA=344.6 D=18.8"
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August 3
03:00UTC
CM=236
PA=343.5
D=22.7"
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August 9
02:00UTC
CM=167
PA=343.85
D=23.7" |
August 17
00:30UTC
CM=89
PA=344.65
D=24.6" |
August 30
00:30utc
CM=319
PA=346.6
D=25.08" |
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September 3
01:30UTC
CM=298
PA=347.25
D=24.91" |
September 5
00:00UTC
CM=259
PA=347.55
D=24.77" |
September 28
21:30UTC
CM=7
PA=349.66
D=21.1 |
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| Using a bit of maths on the above images it is possible to
create a map of the planet. This image is centred at zero longitude. Once
a map is available it can be used in a VRML model of the planet as seen
below. In virtual reality you can get a view of the South pole which is
impossible from Earth. Notice how the polar cap varied in size between the
images. This reflects how it melted as southern summer progressed. |
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Earlier Mars Images
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Mars 21:00GMT on 12/04/97. Central meridian 54°. The dark
feature in the northern (lower) hemisphere is Mare Acidalium. At the
time Mars angular size was 13arcseconds and it was 106 million km from
Earth. Opportunities to observe Mars are rare; it is well placed for
about 2 months every 2 years. So with a run of cloudy nights it can all
be over very quickly ! |
| Mars 24/05/01 0325UTC
CM=48°
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| This series of images shows the power of
digital image processing. The sequence shows:
A a single video frame B a
composite of 25 frames C Same 25 frames after
enlargement and vertical compression to correct for camera distortion.
Also 10 iterations of Maximum entropy deconvolution
D After unsharp masking E Final mirror
image to compensate for telescope prism and some brightness and contrast
adjustments
(USM(5,4) Gaussian PSF R=2) |
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