Although a storm front had just gone through our area, the stability was remarkably good, so I took the opportunity to image Mars near its close approach to Earth (Oct 29th).

It's interesting to note the rotation of Mars between this image and the one below taken 35 minutes previously. Both Mars and Earth rotate at about the same 24 hour time interval.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" William Optic diagonal, Tele Vue 2.5x Powermate yielding effective f/25.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" William Optic diagonal, Tele Vue 2.5x Powermate yielding effective f/25.

The pale yellow planetary colour combined with the clearly visible equatorial band and darker south polar region shows rare planetary detail for Saturn.  The Cassini Division is broad and dark, and the gray inner Crepe "C" ring is visible.  The different colours of the "A" and "B" rings is also very obvious in this image.

After numerous attempts at imaging Saturn since my last successful attempt on 2004.01.15, I am happy to report that the Meade LPI Imager is still the best way to image planets.  Saturn was near zenith, and the air was as stable as I've ever experienced, so it was ideal conditions for imaging.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" William Optic diagonal, Tele Vue 2.5x Powermate.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 1.25" Everbright diagonal, 2.5 Powermate.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" William Optic diagonal, 2.5 Powermate.

Image Processing:
AutoStar Suite - images auto stacked - Align & Combine. Min Quality 70%, Eval Count 10, , Medium Edge filter. 
Corel PhotoPaint -  original 640x480 image cropped & reduced to 201x165 size. Contrast & saturation adjusted to enhance planetary colour.

There is an improvement of detail in the polar regions, and the equatorial belts show about the same detail as the Jupiter image taken 11 days previous (see below).

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" William Optic diagonal, 2.5 Powermate.

Image Processing:
AutoStar Suite - images auto stacked - Align & Combine. Min Quality 70%, Eval Count 10, , Medium Edge filter. 
Corel PhotoPaint -  original 640x480 image cropped & reduced to 281x289 size. Contrast & saturation adjusted to enhance planetary detail and colour.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" William Optic diagonal, 2.5 Powermate.

Image Processing:
AutoStar Suite - images auto stacked - Align & Combine. Min Quality 80%, Eval Count 10, EdgeHard filter. 
Corel PhotoPaint -  original 640x480 image cropped & reduced to 297x283 size. Contrast & saturation adjusted to enhance planetary detail and colour.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" William Optic diagonal.

Image Processing: AutoStar Suite - images auto stacked - Align & Combine. Min Quality 80%, Eval Count 10, EdgeMedium filter.  Corel PhotoPaint -  original 640x480 image cropped & reduced to 505x234 size. Original overexposed planetary image replaced. Contrast & saturation adjusted to enhance planetary detail and colour.

The striking pale yellow planetary colour combined with the clearly visible equatorial band and darker south polar region shows rare planetary detail for Saturn.  The Cassini Division is broad and dark, and the gray inner Crepe "C" ring is very obvious.  The different colours of the "A" and "B" rings is also very obvious in this image.

This is my second attempt at imaging Saturn at Prime Focus using the Meade LPI Imager.  Saturn was near zenith, and the air was as stable as I've ever experienced, so it was ideal conditions for imaging.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 1.25" Everbright diagonal, 2.5x Powermate.

This is my first acceptable image of Jupiter, and was taken Prime Focus with the Meade LPI Imager.  Image was taken while Jupiter was only at about 30° altitude in the SE sky, and was taken through tree branches, so the image is certainly not the best it could be.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" diagonal.

My first usable image of Saturn, and first light for my new Meade LPI Imager.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" diagonal.

Mars

This is my third try at imaging Mars, and again, shows much more detail than my first two attempts. When this image was taken, Mars had an apparent diameter of 24" and its magnitude is -2.6.

This image shows how much the south polar cap has melted.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, a-focal, 9.7mm Plossl eyepiece, Sirius NPC1 filter.

Mars

This is my second try at imaging Mars, and shows much more detail than my first attempt. When this image was taken, Mars had an apparent diameter of 23.05" and is magnitude -2.4.

This image shows a dimple in the polar cap (read NASA's Mars is Melting), and also reveals a green patch in the upper right quadrant.  The areas of orange colour are widespread in this image.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, a-focal, 9.7mm Plossl eyepiece, Sirius NPC1 filter.

By late August, Mars will approach closer to Earth than it has been (or will be) in thousands of years.  This summer offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe and image this planet. When this image was taken, Mars had an apparent diameter of 21.5".

The polar cap is apparent in all but the smallest of telescopes, and this image reveals a gray-green patch above the polar cap. Above that is an orange patch, then a blue-green fringe.  I'm not sure what the fringe is, but I checked other telescopes at the time, and every one seemed to display this fringe.

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, a-focal, 9.7mm Plossl eyepiece, Sirius NPC1 filter.

Saturn

Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, a-focal, 26mm eyepiece

Venus

Venus is super bright in the western sky, and is accompanied with another crescent moon.