Mars Observation (October 30, 2003)

I was finally able to observe Mars once again. I noted a good amount of detail although now at a little over 15 arc-seconds. I would appreciate any comments on my observation.

Date (U.T.) October 30, 2003
Time (U.T.) 01:30
CM 135.7
Ls 289.0, De -22.7, Ds -23.3, 15.3"
Instrument: 9-inch (23-cm) F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Magnification: 247x, 294x, and 343x
Filter: Wratten 30 (Magenta)
Seeing (1-10): 5-6, Antoniadi (I-V): III
Transparency (1-6): 6

Notes: The South Polar Cap (SPC) appeared small and brilliant (10/10), but no outliers visible. Mare Sirenum (3/10) appeared on the CM with Araxes (5/10) visible projecting from it's preceding (eastern) end. The southern hemisphere extending between Mare Australe (3/10) and Mare Sirenum (north-south) and Solis Lacus (3/10) and Electris (5-6/10, east-west) appeared mottled. Tharsis, Arcadia, Daedalia, Memnonia, and Amazonis appeared bright (7/10). Mare Boreum and Scandia appeared dusky (4/10) to the north adjacent to an extremely bright (9/10) North Polar Hood (NPH). The morning limb haze (MLH) and evening limb haze (ELH) appeared extremely bright (9/10) as well.

The best of luck in your own observations of Mars.

Regards,
Carlos

Attached Image:

Hi Carlos;

I was able to still make about pretty good detail as well. It was a very dark sight in Northern, Arizona and indeed the polar cap has become a snowflake. Observation date was October 13th using a 10" Meade SCT. Eyepiece was 4000 series pl with Orion 2x shorty barlow. Observation time 9:00 pm MST. You show an excellent sketch.

Cheers,
Robert

Impressive sketches & observation detail, as usual Carlos.
It takes a lot of time & dedication to do what you do, keep it up!
And thanks for sharing with us!



Ivan

Another wonderful sketch and report, Carlos. Your observation has been sorely missed and I'm glad you get some more eyepiece time ;-).

One question: do you think your seeing condition now seems worse to you than at the times starting from within a couple of months before opposition (i.e. early morning hours observation)?

Thanks,
Ron B[ee]

Very nice indeed, Carlos.

I had my 8-inch f/8 in the backyard last night, but the seeing was poor and there was a significant breeze jiggling the scope around, so I could not see a lot of detail, and no sketch this time. But to me, the SPC looked larger than the last time I saw it a couple weeks ago. Does it seem bigger to anyone else?

Doug Scobel