Sketched August 9 (PST), 2003 from Houge Park, San Jose, CA 11:30 p.m. pacific DST (daylight savings time) or 06:30 UT August 10. This sketch of Mars is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Gene Schmidt, an observing friend and member of the San Jose Astronomical Association, who passed away on July 26th, 2003. Gene loved observing Mars through his telescope, and as I made this sketch of Mars, at a location which Gene used to frequent, I thought of him. Astronomy is more than a hobby. It is a bridge that connects us closely with the universe. Whether we observe at our telescope alone, or show the wonders of the sky to a crowd, we touch the universe with our eyes and minds. When I look at stars and planets, at galaxies and supernova remnants, I know we are all starstuff and always will be starstuff. Farewell Gene!
| Date: 08/9/03 Lat 37.2N, Long 121.6W, elev. 200 feet | Sketch Time (UT): 6:30, (local time): 11:30 a.m. DST |
| Central Meridian: 224° | Filters: none |
| Instrument: 7.1-inch (180mm) f/9 Astro-Physics Starfire Apo refractor. | Distance from earth 0.39 AU, 58.5m km, 36.3m miles |
| Magnification: (a pair of 25mm) 200x Zeiss Abbe Orthos combined with a Zeiss Binoviewer and AP Barcon Barlow | Transp. 2/6, Seeing 6/10, Antoniadi (I-V): II |
| Apparent Size: 23.8" | Magnitude: -2.6 |
Good observing night from 11:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Transparency poor 3/10 (near full moon), seeing good 6/10. South Polar Cap notch and dark melt line continue to be prominent. Hellas visible at times. Through the 7-inch refractor, I can see the sunlit limb haze and also north polar hood. I never see this through the 4-inch refractor. This was a public star party, and so I wasn't able to concentrate on my sketches like I can at home. Mare Tyrrhenum and Mare Cimmerium visible. Syrtis Major just rotating into view. Between Syrtis Major and Syrtis Minor is a "notch". This is Libya and many observers were able to see it.
Mars, in this sketch is reversed N/S. South is shown at the top of the image. The south polar cap is the prominent feature, and shows a notch that was quite distinct to me. Terminator is where daylight ends and evening begins. The terminator is on the left and the planet is rotating left to right. In my sketches the planet rotates Martian east (left) to west (right) to match most other images and sketches. Look for features rotating from left to right in the drawings from night to night.
Four of us girls gang-sketched this evening, and here is the result.
Details about the sketch: I used my 180mm (7.1-inch diameter) f/9 Astro-Physics EDT refractor, 25mm Zeiss Abbe orthoscopic eyepiece, Zeiss Binoviewer and AP Barcon barlow for 200x. Sketched from Houge Park, San Jose, CA August 10 (UT) Longitude 121.6W Latitude 37.2N, elevation 200 feet. Transparency poor 2/10 (near full moon), seeing good 6/10.
Details about Mars: Diameter 23.8 arc seconds (Jupiter is about 30 -50 arc seconds in diameter depending on its distance from earth). Central Meridian 224 - 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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