MARS PAGE

Photos above courtesy NASA/JPL

On August 27, 2003, Mars made its closest approach to Earth in approximately 50,000 years.  To commemorate the event, I've put together a webpage featuring sketches, photos, and data of the red planet.  All photos were captured from webcam video via Logitech Quickcam.  All sketches were drawn with pencil, eyes, and clipboard.  Telescope was a Meade 5" refractor. Some photos and sketches take awhile to download, so please be patient.

Mars Sketches:
Click Here!

Mars Photos:
Second batch uploaded 8/27/2003.  More to follow! All photos and videos below © 2003 Clint Parrish.

NEW PHOTO FROM THE AUGUST 18 CAPTURE

I was looking back through the August 18 Mars webcam video and found this frame that I believe I have used before.  It's the best frame that I've seen so far.  I got rid of some of the blur and sharpened it in Adobe Photoshop.  You can see the southern ice cap.  You can also see what appear to be clouds and haze along the right side of the planet.  
Mars August 17 and 18, 2003

My first capture of the Red Planet on 8/17.  This frame was blown up considerably to show detail but the image is still blurry.   Mars circa 1 a.m. CDT on 8/18.  Again, I blew this one up from a webcam frame.  Not very good, but you can see some surface detail.   This is an explanation of the features in the middle photo.  A: Mare Sirenum and Mare Cimmerium.  
B: Southern Ice Cap.  C:  Syrtis Major.  D:  Tharsis Region.  Note, Hellas Basin (the lowest elevation on Mars) is just below the C area.  
Mars August 24, 2003

This is what Mars looks like at  low magnification.  Mars is small...only about twice the size of the moon.  Even when Mars and Earth are very close together, the planet still appears small in a backyard scope.   Another view of Mars.  This picture was specially processed to show the rusty color of the planet.   One of the best frames pulled from the webcam.  This was taken between midnight and 1 a.m. on August 24.

Mars Video (may take awhile to download; must have a video player installed on your computer):
Video25.avi

More of Mars.  This picture was blown up and resolution was increased giving it a pixelated look. This is another great frame from a webcam capture.  I blew up the frame and got rid of some of the blur.  Surface features are very visible.  The ice cap is not very distinct.  It is located in the south south-eastern portion of the globe of Mars in this image.

Mars Data:

Mars 24 Applet

Mars Today

Mars Information from Astronomy.com