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Mars Conjunction 2005.

On 30 October 2005, Mars made it's closest approach of 43 million miles to the earth for the next 13 years. One night later (due to standard UK conditions) I took the images that follow using a black and white chipped (ICX098BL 6E) Philips Vesta pro SC1.5 webcam in normal mode.

I had recently purchased a 742 nm IR pass filter and decided to take two series of shots over a 20 minute period and stack and compare various options. When looking at these pictures, it must be remembered that conditions were poor and almost varying from minute to minute. These shots were taken during a brief clear period in poor seeing (3/5) and ok transparency (4/5).

The equipment used for imaging was:

• First, and perhaps most importantly, the mount. EQ6 SkyScan
• Scope - Intes Micro MN76 1120mm Maksutov Newtonian Reflector, 7.1"
• Televue 5x PowerMate giving an over all equivalent focal length of 5.6m
• Philips Vesta Pro SC1.5 B&W ICX098BL 6E aircooled webcam, self modified with hardwired LX/N, fan and amp off bypass switching. The amp control was switched to 'PC', the LX control was swiched to 'Normal' and the fan was switched off.
• Captured using K3CCD
• Processed using Registax version 2 and Photoshop CS

My favourite shot is probably the second IRIRGB version, though it's difficult to chose one as being better than the rest - for me, all have some merits, though in undertaking this kind of astrophotography, you are always aware of those areas where improvement would be possible.

Andy Ellis 1 November 2005.