First 2007 Mars sketch

Date: 11/11/07 Lat 33N, Long 115W, elev. 1,100 feet	Sketch Time (UT): 12:25, (local time): 4:25 a.m. PST (Pacific Daylight Time)
Central Meridian: 72°	Filters: none
Instrument: 4-inch (105mm) f/6 Astro-Physics Traveler Apo refractor	Distance from Earth 0.70 AU, 106m km, 66m miles
Magnification: 315x  (6mm Zeiss Abbe Orthos, Zeiss binoviewer + barcon )	Transp. 6/6, NELM 6.6, Seeing - Pickering: 9/10, Antoniadi:  I
Apparent Size: 13.2"	Magnitude: 0.84

First sketch of Mars in 2007, so bear with me as I gather my bearings. Sketched at our dark sky observing site, called Ocotillo Observatory, on the I-10 between Indio and Blythe, CA - just north of the Salton Sea. South is up, and East is right, for consistency with all my Mars sketches, though I sketched it in a refractor where North was up.

The planet rotates from right to left in my sketches. To the right of the central meridian is the following or morning limb. To the left is the preceding or evening limb. There are several features visible. Sometimes morning or evening limb haze is visible on the limbs. Xanthe/Chryse is the large white oval rotating off the preceding limb (to the left). To the right of the central meridian is a subtle skinny streak. That's Ganges/Nilokeras. South (up) from that is a darker bulb-shaped feature called Solis Lacus. To the left of Solis Lacus and above Chryse/Xanthe is a larger dark area called Mare Erythraeum. North polar clouds are visible at the bottom of the scanned sketch. These clouds dissipate at times and reveal the north polar surface and the north polar ice cap. The small bright spot at South (top) is Argyre. To see the original "north up" sketch in the 3.5 x 5 inch sketch notepad go here .

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