Wasting Away Again in Margaritifer

by Akkana Peck

(Had to use that subject line once before we lose Margaritifer Sinus for another couple of years ...)

Nice views of Mars tonight [May 18, 1999]! At 10:45pm PDT, at 208x in the Tak 5" refractor, Sini Sabaeus and Meridiani were still visible, the Margaritifer area just rotating into view, Acidalia and Niliacus Lacus showing nicely. Argyre was a pale patch on the limb next to Margaritifer, and there was another noticably pale patch on the east limb in the area vacated by Syrtis Major a few hours earlier -- that area seems to be called Aeria, but I don't know why it should be so pale -- limb clouds?

Labelled sketch (sorry, it's refractor-reversed -- I couldn't flip the image after scanning or my handwritten labels would all be backward) at http://www.shallowsky.com/images/sketch/mars51899.jpg