Bill & Ted's Excellent Astro-Picture Pages
Mars
Mars is the next planet from Earth going away from the Sun. It is much smaller than Earth and has two very small moons that you cannot see with a typical back yard telescope. Every 26 months Mars is in opposition. That is when it is closest to the Earth and best visible. Normally Mars will appear as a small orange dot but as opposition approaches the disk will grow larger allowing for more detailed views. During this time you can see various features on the planet as shown in the pictures below.
The following images were taken using a 12 bit black and white CCD (Sirius CWIP-12a) through various telescopes during the April-May 1999 opposition. Telescopes used include Questar 3.5", Meade 10", and a Celestron 14".
