First 2005 Mars sketch

Date: 07/30/03 Lat 34N, Long 118W, elev. 637 feet	Sketch Time (UT): 11:15, (local time): 4:15 a.m. PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)
Central Meridian: 160°	Filters: none
Instrument: 7-inch f/9 AP180EDT refractor	Distance from Earth 0.82 AU, 123m km, 75m miles
Magnification: 480x  (10mm Zeiss Abbe Orthos, Zeiss binoviewer + barcon )	Transp. 3-4/6, Seeing 8-9/10, Antoniadi (I-II):  I - II
Apparent Size: 11.2"	Magnitude: -0.45

The south polar cap is quite small. Mare Sirenum is the prominent feature visible in this sketch. To the south (up towards the south polar cap), Mare Chromium was darker than Sirenum. Lighter Eridania was a stark contrast to the darker features.

Most of all I noticed the bluish north polar hood. It was really blue! I also saw a slight amount of evening limb haze on the preceding (terminator) limb, and a brighter morning haze on the following limb. These were visible without any filters. I did my best to try to sketch them.

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