First Mars with ETX 90

The clouds have finally cleared in North Carolina enough to get my telescopes back out. I got my first images of Mars the other night. It is amazing how much the ice cap has receded since July. Solis Lacus is visible in the picture in the upper right quadrant of the planet.

The telescope/camera setup is as follows:

Telescope: Meade ETX 90EC
Camera: Vesta Pro
Barlow: Yes (2x)
Time: 01:20am
Date: 08/19/03
Seeing/Tranparency: 7 out of 10 for Seeing and 5 out of 10 for transparency
Used Registax to align and stack 90 frames. Slight gamma correction to darken the background.

I hope you like it. Suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Clear skies,
Steve Murphy
Raleigh, NC

Attached Image:

Steven,

An impressive image of Mars, especially using for this size aperture. Detail is noted extending between Mare Sirenum (left, or following) and Solis Lacus (right, or preceding). The seeing cooperated for you as well. I wish you the best of luck in imaging Mars.

Carlos