| Observer | Dave Staples |
|---|---|
| Date | 06/7 June 2001 |
| Time | 2200-2230 PDT 02:30-03:30 PDT |
| Location | Santa Rosa, Ca 38°16'N 122°40'W |
| Weather | Warm, very bright |
| Equip | C8, 26mm, 10mm plossls, 2x barlow |
| Seeing | 7-9/10 |
| Trans: | 8/10 |
Last night about 10:15 Mars was high enough over the fence to take a look. It was pretty cool to see the full Moon and Mars hanging there together. Seeing about that time wasn't very good, my wife was unimpressed saying Mars just looked like a fuzzy orange ball, I'd have to agree. After taking a peek at M57 (been waiting to show her that one...she was suitably impressed) we hit the sack and I set my internal alarm for 1:30.
Well my internal alarm must be running slow as I didn't wake up until 2:30. I seriously thought about just rolling over and going back to sleep, but the scope looked lonely out there so I got up.
I'm sure glad I did. Seeing had improved quite a bit, supporting 406x (10mm plossl, 2x barlow)with steady views about 50% of the time. My guess is that the Central Meridian was somewhere between 10 and 25 degrees while I was observing. This seems to match up with the display from Mars Previewer (or in this case Postviewer) this morning.
Mare Erythaeum was clearly visible with Sinus Sabaeus visible during the moments of best seeing. Chryse showed up as a light spot between Mare Ery. and Mare Niliacus, not quite as white as in photos. During the best moments it was I think it was possible to see Achillis Pons separating Mare Niliacus and Mare Acidalus, but that may be wishful thinking. The south polar cap and what was still visible of Hellas must have been merging in the seeing to make what seemed to be a quite large polar cap.
All in all, it was well worth the loss of a little sleep to see a little detail on Mars,