Jefferson Teng wanted to make a longer movie of Mars. "Unfortunately I had to wait for Mars to show up above my house roof," he said. "My laptop storage capacity is another problem."

So all we get is this remarkable series of images, spanning two hours and 39 minutes on Aug. 12. Teng used 5.1" refractor telescope and a digital camera to capture an image every five minutes.

In this animation, the images are flipped due to the way the telescope inverts incoming light. The white south pole of Mars is at the top instead of the bottom, where it would be if you could simply gaze at Mars with superhuman eyes. This causes the rotation of Mars to appear backward, too.

Teng's observations were made in Bellevue, Washington. But Mars is visible from all around the world now. It can be found just after sundown in the southeast right on through sunup, when the bright orange point of light settles into the southwestern horizon. [Mars Watch]

-- Robert Roy Britt