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Astrophotography Travel

New Camp and More Planets

I’ve moved to the camping area in Granite Gap that I investigated last week. It is pretty nice here. So far, I have the whole place to myself. There is some shade and the elevation is high enough to lower the temps a few degrees. It was getting pretty hot down in the valley at Rusty’s RV Ranch. I’ve seen some Sage Thrashers, Cassin’s Vireo, Green-tailed Towhee, and all the usual desert birds. This is a great spot for hiking and one can go for miles on BLM land. Before I left Rusty’s, I had another good night of planetary photography.

Here’s Jupiter again. This time the shadow of Callisto is moving across the face of the planet.
My best image of Mars so far. Later this month the planet will be oriented so the big volcanoes like Olympus Mons will show up. I think I can capture them if I have good conditions. Unlike on Earth, some of the volcanoes on Mars are gigantic because there is no plate tectonics to move them around, they just grow bigger and bigger. Olympus Mons is about the size of the state of Arizona and is 16 miles elevation.

One reply on “New Camp and More Planets”

I knew Olympus Mons was the biggest know volcano in the solar system (thanks to David) but had no idea it was that huge. Maybe we should be glad for plate tectonics despite the earthquakes.

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