Guides/Mars
♂Mars Processing Guides
Process Mars videos online and reveal surface features. Stack and enhance polar caps, dark regions, and dust storms.
Key Features
- -White polar ice caps (CO2 and water ice)
- -Dark albedo features (Syrtis Major, Mare Acidalium)
- -Global and regional dust storms
- -Olympus Mons and Tharsis volcanoes region
- -Seasonal polar cap changes
Challenges
- -Very small apparent size except near opposition (max ~25 arcsec)
- -Surface detail is low contrast - very sensitive to seeing
- -Dust storms can completely obscure surface for weeks
- -Best stack percentage is lower due to small size
Recommended Capture Settings for Mars
Opposition every 26 months. Perihelic oppositions (2035, 2050) give largest disk. Mars is very small outside opposition window.
Frame Rate
100-200 fps
Exposure
5-15ms
Gain
Medium (280-380)
Mars Stacking Tutorials
Mars + Median Stacking
Beginner
The safest choice - naturally rejects outliers and artifacts
Best for: First-time planetary photographers - safe and reliable
Mars + Weighted Quality Stacking
RecommendedIntermediate
Your sharpest frames contribute most - ideal for variable seeing
Best for: Nights with variable atmospheric seeing (most common scenario)
Mars + Sigma-Clip Stacking
RecommendedIntermediate
Statistical outlier rejection - for scientific-quality results
Best for: Removing cosmic ray hits that appear as bright dots
Mars + Local Quality Stacking
RecommendedAdvanced
The AutoStakkert method - 30-40% more detail possible
Best for: Maximum planetary detail extraction from good source footage