First, I planned to make a composition, which will represent the closest approach of planet Mars. At the end of September, I went to the Slovak’s most-east observatory, to the Dark Sky Park Poloniny – the darkest area in Central Europe. I made some compositions and this one should represent the mentioned event. Perfect timing is very important, for that reason I chose the last moments before the dawn, to capture a 360-degree panorama of zodiacal light. But since already I played with projection, I realized that this is something unconventional. Sure, “little planet” projections are very favorites, also with some popular telescopes. But honestly, I have never seen “laying ∞” – (a symbol of infinity) of zodiacal and Milky way arcs, even with this telescope – VNT (Vihorlat’s National Telescope) with one-meter-diameter primary mirror. Well, I hope You will like it and You won’t miss the opportunity to observe “Red planet” 🙂
Mars will be closest to the Earth on the 6th of October 2020 for almost 15 years. With the naked eye, we can see the bright red-colored object, but even with the small telescope, details will appear.
_____________________________________________________________________
Category: Tracked Pano
Location: Observatory Kolonica, Slovakia
Date and time: 22nd of September 2020, 4:20AM UTC+2h
Equipment: Canon 6D mod, Sigma Art 28mm, Sky-Watcher StarAdventurer
EXIF: 20″, f/2.2, ISO 8.000
