Spring Planets

Last week I was able to get a rare FOUR nights out with my telescope named +Akule.  In the prime part of the night Mars and Saturn are rising in Scorpio.  Both are quite low for me at 35° North Latitude and I have to work around the trees of my house.

Firstly is my favorite of the bunch and that was Mars on Friday, May 27/28, 2016.

with details and more moderately sized...

The week started with clear skies but quite poor seeing. I didn't care much as it had been so long since the last imaging session. I recorded at a really high frame rate and was able to eek out a decent image.

I did it again Tuesday...

A short animation comparing the same place on Mars 24hrs apart, Monday vs Tuesday.

... and another shot that got even better on Wednesday...

Chasing after Mars in the sky is Saturn. Since the seeing was so good on Wednesday I tried for Saturn but wasn't happy with the results.  Thursday had a small chance of rain and too many clouds to try, but on Friday the skies rocked.  Buffered by TD Bonnie, which is soaking us badly right now, the skies were a rare 4/5 for seeing!  Shortly after taking the Mars photos at the top, I swung over to Saturn and got this beauty.

For more photos of this and past seasons, deep sky photos and some how to's of how I made these images, please visit my homepage at http://maphilli14.webs.com/

Thanks,

Mike