Dec 112020
Mars is getting lower and lower in the west by sunset. I reconfigured the PTO so I could get some pictures of the planet while it still is above the trees after dark.
As you can see, Mars is quickly getting smaller as Earth leaves it behind. The image on the right was the one taken last night. Each image is taken by the same equipment and at the same scale. It is also, by pure coincidence, the same part of the planet.
As usual, south is up in these images. Even as small as the planet is, you can see how much smaller the southern polar ice cap has gotten as the Martian summer proceeds. The clouds forming the north polar cap are still present.