January 9,2023 Mars

We continue to rapidly pull away from Mars as co be seen in its shrinking angular size.
As this is occurring it becomes easier to see its albedo features as the dust settles. On this night of
sketching, the central feature facing us was Sinus Sabeus. Other features clearly seen included Iapygia,
Syrtis major nearing the preceding limb and Margaretifer Sinus beginning to appear on the following
limb. Also seen were Mare Serpentis, Sinus Meridani, Arabia Terra, Edan and some of Utopia.
Sketching Materials and Equipment
For this sketch I used color pencil dust applied with a blending stump, graphite HB pencil, eraser, white copy paper, Gimp2 to cut the sketch and move to a black background. Seeing 3/5, transparency 3/5.
Telescope 16” f/4.41 6mm eyepiece 298x and 4 mm at 448x, filters used neodymium and single polarizing to improve contrasts. Scope on an equatorial platform.
Frank McCabe