White Oaks Home | Sketches Index | Mars 2003 Index | Back | Next

Sketched August 15, 2003 from Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park 12:30 a.m. pacific DST (daylight saving time) or 07:30 UT August 15. Near full moon and some cirrus. Transparency LM 5.0, seeing good.

Date: 08/15/03 Lat 37N, Long 119W, elev. 7,200 feet Sketch Time (UT): 7:30, (local time): 11:30 p.m. DST
Central Meridian: 194° Filters: none
Instrument: 7.1-inch (180mm) f/9 Astro-Physics Starfire Apo refractor. Distance from earth 0.38 AU, 57m km, 35.3m miles
Magnification: (25mm) 195x  Zeiss Abbe Ortho combined with a 2.4x AP Barcon Barlow Transp. 2/6 (near full moon), Seeing 5/10, Antoniadi (I-V):  II
Apparent Size: 24.4" Magnitude: -2.7

Mare Sirenum (with the bulblike section) and Mare Cimmerium are the bold features. Mare Tyrhenum looks like a claw and Elysium (not Olympus Mons) were visible. Hellas visible, too. I can see the far edge of the shrinking south polar cap too.

Details about Mars: Diameter 24.4 arc seconds (Jupiter is about 30 -50 arc seconds in diameter depending on its distance from earth). Central Meridian 194 - the imaginary line passing through the planetary poles of rotation and bisecting the planetary disk, and is used to determine the longitude during an observing session.

White Oaks Home | Sketches Index | Mars 2003 Index | Back | Next