Sketched August 23, 2003 from Mount Tamalpais State Park during the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers annual picnic and star party, midnight pacific DST (daylight savingtime) or 07:00 UT August 24. Third quarter moon (not yet risen) seeing poor, transparency LM 5.5.

Date: 08/24/03 Lat 37N, Long 122W, elev. 1970 feet	Sketch Time (UT): 7:00, (local time): midnight DST
Central Meridian: 107°	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: (16mm) 300x  Zeiss Abbe Ortho	Transp. 4/6, Seeing 3/10, Antoniadi (I-V):  III
Apparent Size: 25"	Magnitude: -2.8

Mare Erythraeum is rotating off the left limb. Solis Lacus is the round 'eye of Mars". Left of Solis Lacus, connecting it to Mare Erythraeum (South) and Mare Aurorae Sinus (north) is Nectar. Mare Chromium (or Phaethontis) is next to it. Mare Cimmerium is rotating on the right, next to Mare Sirenum. South of this is a light spot rotating on: Eridania. Next to it is another lighter feature (I think), Electris. North (below) Solis Lacus is a Tithonius Lacus, the closest albedo feature we can use to show where Valles Marineris is. Beteween Tithonius Lacus and Solis Lacus is a lighter feature called Sinai.

Details about Mars: Diameter 25.0 arc seconds (Jupiter is about 30 -50 arc seconds in diameter depending on its distance from earth). Central Meridian 107 - 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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