CN FORUMS ARCHIVE Telescope Reviews: First mars Sketch this year 11/11/07

I had perfect pre-dawn seeing after a dark-sky faint-fuzzy marathon all-nighter Saturday night November 10. Mars is my favorite object to sketch, and I hadn't had a good look at my friend for some time. This first sketch of the year is sort of like a first date - just getting acquainted. It takes a couple of "dates" to get reacquainted with Mars - the features, what information needs to be captured, etc.

So here are some of my own Mars Sketching Tips:

When packing up for an "away" observing trip - away for me is 150 miles one way to get out of LA light pollution - remember to pack your telescope. We were so focused on getting all the components of our new AP Mach1 mount for our f/6 105mm AP Traveler, that we actually forgot to pack the telescope, and had to go back for it!

Prepare for sketching - I draw small circles in my 3.5 x 5-inch sketch pad before I head out to observe and sketch. For consistency, I always draw my Mars sketches the same size , but that's just my preference. It makes it easier to scan, resize, thumbnail, etc. for webpages later. My circle template is a small plastic ring, and it lives in my small sketch kit.

I bring a Mars Globe or paper map so I can identify features, and estimate the central meridian. This one is great:
Damian Peach's Mars Map

I take a look at Mars Previewer or Mars on Sky Tools software at home to see what interesting features will be on the central meridian at the time I want to sketch. For Mars, I prefer to wait until Mars is as high as I can before sketching.

I note the time, local and UT, the central meridian if I have it. If not, the sketch time will allow me to get it back at the computer at home.

Seeing and transparency - these can vary over the course of the night, and I carry a printout of the Finnish triangle charts, and I estimate the observing conditions at either the zenith or the area of observing (aka, near Mars) conditions
Limiting Magnitude charts at the time of the sketch. I note the seeing using the Pickering 1-10 scale and the Antoniadi (1-5 scale). I make a note of which telescope, which eyepiece, and whether I am using a binoviewer or barlow (or both), so I can get the magnification. And finally, just for fun, I include apparent diameter, distance from Earth and magnitude. But those last pieces of information I get back at the computer when I am preparing the webpage.

Then, I take a look through the eyepiece (or in this case through the Zeiss Binoviewer), and soak in those Mars photons for a while. Sometimes I make a quick rough sketch first and mark it with little arrows and notes to identify features. Sometimes I just sketch. To me, the information gathering is the interesting part of the sketch process, and the actual drawing is almost secondary. But I do enjoy it! Here's my first 2007 Mars sketch: Mars CM 67 11/11/07 12:25UT

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Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA

Blog: "Twas the Night Before Solstice
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