Syrtis Major: Mars 11th November 2020

 

Albedo feature: Syrtis Major - 127mm Meade Apo Refractor, x3 Televue Barlow QHY5-11 colour camera. 18% stack of 5000 RGB frames. Credit: Pip Stakkert and Reggie Stax at the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

"The red planet has and continues to, put on a splendid show this year. The atmosphere was not at its most stable when Pip and Reggie captured a number of video clips at about 21:30 pm on the 11th of November. These images were processed from the final clip taken on the night. Mars is now several weeks past opposition and is therefore showing a gibbous phase. As the year advances the phase will decrease and its overall apparent size will decrease as Mars and Earth move further apart and move around their respective orbits.

This week we will be hoping to capture some images of the Leonid Meteor shower using the Observatory's Canon 600d DSLR and the Sky Adventurer 'mini-rig' - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Syrtis Major Planum is a "dark spot" (an albedo feature) located in the boundary between the northern lowlands and southern highlands of Mars just west of the impact basin Isidis in the Syrtis Major quadrangle. It was discovered, on the basis of data from Mars Global Surveyor, to be a low-relief shield volcano, but was formerly believed to be a plain, and was then known as Syrtis Major Planitia. The dark color comes from the basaltic volcanic rock of the region and the relative lack of dust. Credit: Wikipedia.