Nevertheless, it was the last occasion I suppose to collect some light from Mars this year.
Seeing was reasonable, as I could infer from observing the small double stars at Rigel and Alnitak. Iota Orionis was also still part of the test group.
Of course, one does not skip the Orion Nebula. I was somewhat surprised at the detail I saw in the center of the nebula. E and F stars in the Trapezium, however, were not at home. Just a manual starhop past M35 in Gemini, the Eskimo Nebula and the three ladies in Auriga. All this to buy time so that Mars could get higher than high before I focused the telescope on it, and the air in the telescope to calm down even more.
Finally, I went for Mars and was pleasantly surprised. Syrtis Major and Hellas stretched out in their full glory! It was a long time since I had seen this. On most occasions Syrtis was on the other side of Mars or just a little part could be seen. Observing the next day around the same time doesn't help very much since the rotation period of Mars is almost the same as earth. So there it was! In all its glory! ( "Like Christiaan Huygens must have seen it", crossed my mind.) I made a quick sketch.
Only this afternoon did I have the puff to make a nicer sketch of it.
So far the report of yesterday.
It crossed my mind that it would be a nice idea to show the last sketches I made of Mars in the past two months.
Thanks for reading and watching!
