Mars 2003

The images were taken between 0630 and 0700 UT.
The visual magnitude was 2.6
The distance from the Earth was 0.39AU
The angular diameter was 23.9"
The central meridian longitude was 222 degrees, placing the dark area of Mare Cimmerium in the center of the view. To its upper left is Mare Tyrrhenum. South is at the top.
These images were taken 17 days before opposition.

The 2nd image was taken at 0600UT 14 August 2003 using the same equipment. Seeing conditions were poor. This is a median of 6 integrations.

The images were taken between 0540 and 0620 UT.
The visual magnitude was -2.7
The distance from the Earth was 0.39AU
The angular diameter was 24.3"
The central meridian longitude was 181 degrees, placing Mare Cimmerium off to the left. South is at the top.
These images were taken 14 days before opposition.

The 3rd image was taken at 0620UT 15 August 2003 using the same equipment. Seeing conditions were slightly better. This is a median of 7 integrations.

The images were taken between 0600 and 0640 UT.
The visual magnitude was -2.7
The distance from the Earth was 0.38AU
The angular diameter was 24.4"
The central meridian longitude was 177 degrees, placing Mare Cimmerium off to the left. South is at the top.
These images were taken 13 days before opposition.

The 4th image was taken at 0600UT 22 August 2003 using the same equipment. Seeing conditions were much better. This is a median of 50 integrations.

The images were taken between 0600 and 0700 UT.
The visual magnitude was -2.8
The distance from the Earth was 0.37AU
The angular diameter was 25.0"
The central meridian longitude was 117 degrees, placing Mare Serenum in the center of the view. Solis Lacus is the prominent dark round region at about 2 O'Clock. The small, faint, light gray circle at 7 O'Clock is the volcano Olympus Mons. South is at the top.
These images were taken 6 days before opposition.

The 5th - 8th images were all taken on the 6th of September at 0430UT. Seeing was slow but pretty drastic, like sitting on the bottom of a swimming pool and looking up at people through calm water. The 5th image is a Registax combination of 50 individual images. The 6th image contains 75 images, and the 7th image used 150 images. The final image has labels of the prominent objects on the Martian surface.

The images were taken between 0410 and 0450 UT.
The visual magnitude was -2.8
The distance from the Earth was 0.38AU
The angular diameter was 24.6"
The central meridian longitude was 316 degrees, placing Mare Serpentis in the center of the view. South is at the top.
These images were taken past the opposition.