By Rick Bria, Greenwich Astronomy Buff and Bowman Observatory Keyholder
Mars 2014-04-25UT
Several factors recently converged to allow for a decent picture of Mars to be taken at the Mary Aloysia Hardey Observatory. Better sky conditions, software, hardware and refined imaging procedures all helped attain this image. Most importantly, Mars finally presented an interesting and feature-rich side Earthward during this session. Most features on Mars’s have Latin names but there are exceptions. Some highlights from this Mars picture are:
Near the South Pole is a huge impact basin named Hellas. Hellas is Greek for ‘Greece’ and was formed by an asteroid impact 4 billion years ago. Continue Reading →