Mars, the bright orange object right of centre, is here amid the stars and constellations of the winter Milky Way in January 2023. Mars is in Taurus, above Aldebaran and the Hyades, and below the blue Pleiades. The stars of Auriga are at left. At top are stars in Perseus, including the reddish California Nebula. The interstellar Dark Clouds of Taurus are at centre. This is a stack of 7 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 40mm, on the stock Canon R5 at ISO 800. A single exposure through a Kase/Alyn Wallace Starglow filter blended in added the star glows. The main images were also shot through an URTH light pollution reduction filter. Taken from home January 10, 2023. There's another version of this shot at 35mm for a little wider framing of Auriga and Taurus.
Bright reddish Mars above the Hyades star cluster with yellow Aldebaran below Mars to serve as a "compare and contrast " to Mars. The blue Pleiades are at upper right. Two other NGC clusters in Taurus are in the frame: NGC 1647 to the left of the Hyades and NGC 1747 at the right edge of the frame. The small clusters NGC 1817 and 1807 are at lower left. The Taurus Dark Clouds are at upper left. Aldebaran is magnitude +1 while Mars was -0.2 this morning and getting brighter by the day as it approached its December opposition this year, 2022. I shot this on the morning of September 7, 2022 with some haze and smoke in the sky, so not the best for transparency. This is a stack of just 2 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the Rokinon 85mm RF lens on the Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the Star Advenrturer Mini tracker. A third exposure through the Kenko Softon A filter added the star glows for photogenic effect and to accentuate the colours.
Mars in Cancer above M44, and near Gemini (east of Castor and Pollux) and above Procyon in Canis Minor, February 2010. Taken with Canon 5DMkII and 35mm Canon L-Series lens at f/4. Stack of 4 x 4 minute exposures + 2 x 4 minute with Kenko filter for star glows. At ISO 800. Taken Feb 11, 2010.
