On November 18, 2005



Equipment & Processing

Meade LX200 10 inch telescope, web cam Philips ToUcamPro2, filter Baader Ir-cut, TeleVue 3x Barlow lens and a set of tele-extensions The image was taken between 20h and 21h (local time). 270 images were stacked out of 890 using Iris. Image at 80% of its original size. Colors, gamma and brightness adjusted in Photoshop. I enhanced the contrast in Photoshop in order to get a more detailed shot, to the detriment of the noise. The South Polar Cap of Mars (at the top of the globe on the image) is very small. You can see Syrtis Major at the right end of the planet. The bright area "Hellas" between Syrtis Major and the South Pole is obvious. You can also see Sinus Sabaeus at the center of the globe, which takes the form of a long oblique line. Sinus Meridiani is at its most high-end. Other version... LX200 in comparison with Hubble! The image of the Hubble space telescope (with the WFPC2 camera) has a higher resolution than the image taken with the LX200 and its affordable web-cam, but we must not forget the more than 10 billion dollar cost of the Hubble telescope, since its launch.