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.
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