Mars sketch 4/6/16 Thanks MikeDMcNight!

[Moonshane]

Tried the method  (broadly anyway!) used by Mike to sketch Mars on 4/6/26 with 120ed and Nagler zoom at 150-200x.  Reasonably successful too, although I made a mess sticking it in my notes!

Compares fairly well with the image here if you squint

 

 

[laudropb]

Very nice sketch. I like the subtle shading.

[michaelmorris]

Love it!

[mikeDnight]

Good stuff! There's certainly far more detail in the eyepiece than first meets the eye as your sketch shows. The image you attached certainly appears to have a strong similarity to the detail you recorded. If you can include the actual time of the observation it will be easy to calculate the longditude of the central meridian for mars on that date, and accurately name the features seen.

I'm really pleased you've had a go at sketching Mars. I'm certain that in doing so you've seen more and gained a deeper attachment to the planet. 

Superb! 

Mike

[John]

Nice result Shane

As I view Mars this year and battle with it's low altitude I find myself thinking "if only it was high in the sky - the views would be really tremendous".

As it is, I've been surprised at the detail that can be picked out - but you need to work at it, as you obviously have !

[Chris]

Nice sketch  I know it must have took a bit of concentration to do, my observations of Mars low down with my C6 this year have shown only fleeting details. Still any detail on Mars always feels like a win     

[mikeDnight]

19 hours ago, Moonshane said:

Tried the method  (broadly anyway!) used by Mike to sketch Mars on 4/6/26 with 120ed and Nagler zoom at 150-200x.  Reasonably successful too, although I made a mess sticking it in my notes!

Compares fairly well with the image here if you squint

 

 

The dark spot to the right of centre (south) appears to be terra Meridiani and the dark arm extending from it towards 4 o'clock is terra Sabaea. Margaritifer terra is the triangular feature in the upper right quadrant. The northern hemisphere is dominated by Acidalia Planitia. It really is a super drawing! Just to make things easier, may be next time you could cut the drawing out as a square if youre sticking it into a book, or transfers the sketch directly into the book, as that would save the struggle of cutting a perfect circle. Anything for an easy life! ☺

Mike

[Moonshane]

Cheers Mike I would have normally transferred the rough sketch into the notebook directly but had already done one there using my old method. My old methods looked rubbish when I tried your method so I stuck the new one over it!

Next time I will be doing it directly. 

[Moonshane]

Ps thanks for the labels. Not really got my head around Martian cartography yet!

[colin2007]

24 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

The dark spot to the right of centre (south) appears to be terra Meridiani and the dark arm extending from it towards 4 o'clock is terra Sabaea. Margaritifer terra is the triangular feature in the upper right quadrant. The northern hemisphere is dominated by Acidalia Planitia. It really is a super drawing! Just to make things easier, may be next time you could cut the drawing out as a square if youre sticking it into a book, or transfers the sketch directly into the book, as that would save the struggle of cutting a perfect circle. Anything for an easy life! ☺

Mike

I`m impressed with your knowledge of the Martian landscape Mike . I looked at the Mars Profiler on S&T and I couldn't find any of the names you mentioned. Tried AN and actually got the profile and names that match Moonshane`s sketch. Very impressive when you compare the two.

[mikeDnight]

3 hours ago, colin2007 said:

I`m impressed with your knowledge of the Martian landscape Mike . I looked at the Mars Profiler on S&T and I couldn't find any of the names you mentioned. Tried AN and actually got the profile and names that match Moonshane`s sketch. Very impressive when you compare the two.

Hi Colin,

Idon't have AN. I tend to use only the BAA hand book for working out the CM at a given time, and a small globe of Mars for comparison. It seems to me that the drawing is mirror image and south is to the right. As far as I can tell sinus  (terra) meridiani, which I'm fairly certain is the dark spot right of centre, equates to zero degrees in longitude and latitude, and so the features shown can be worked out from there. The northern hemisphere is tilted toward us and so much of the detailed south is hidden from view. In 2003 I made a cylindrical grid map of the southern hemisphere of mars using a 5" refractor, and in so doing I learned a lot about the surface detail as seen through a small telescope. This year I intend to make another cylindrical grid map of the Martian surface using my 4" refractor, but this time it will give a more detailed view of the northern hemisphere. It beats watching TV! 

I'm not sure what nomenclature is used in the sources you've checked but that used by myself is that used on my globe. I know the IAU love to change things, but they're the dummies that demoted Pluto! 

Mike ☺

[colin2007]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Hi Colin,

Idon't have AN. I tend to use only the BAA hand book for working out the CM at a given time, and a small globe of Mars for comparison. It seems to me that the drawing is mirror image and south is to the right. As far as I can tell sinus  (terra) meridiani, which I'm fairly certain is the dark spot right of centre, equates to zero degrees in longitude and latitude, and so the features shown can be worked out from there. The northern hemisphere is tilted toward us and so much of the detailed south is hidden from view. In 2003 I made a cylindrical grid map of the southern hemisphere of mars using a 5" refractor, and in so doing I learned a lot about the surface detail as seen through a small telescope. This year I intend to make another cylindrical grid map of the Martian surface using my 4" refractor, but this time it will give a more detailed view of the northern hemisphere. It beats watching TV! 

I'm not sure what nomenclature is used in the sources you've checked but that used by myself is that used on my globe. I know the IAU love to change things, but they're the dummies that demoted Pluto! 

Mike ☺

Hi Mike

what I was using was the Mars Profiler app available on the Sky & Telescope and Astronomy Now websites to try and marry up the features that Moonshane had sketched and what was on view.

Thanks so much for the info though, I've learned a lot from you in the past few days!  

Colin

[John]

I find that Cartes Du Ciel seems to present a usefully accurate representation of the Martian features when you zoom in on the planet. They certainly seem to match the views I've had of the planet lately. The only trouble with CduC is that the surface features are not named so I need an alternative source to build up information on the names of the various areas.

 

[mikeDnight]

On 11/06/2016 at 15:28, colin2007 said:

Hi Mike

what I was using was the Mars Profiler app available on the Sky & Telescope and Astronomy Now websites to try and marry up the features that Moonshane had sketched and what was on view.

Thanks so much for the info though, I've learned a lot from you in the past few days!  

Colin

 

On 11/06/2016 at 22:09, John said:

I find that Cartes Du Ciel seems to present a usefully accurate representation of the Martian features when you zoom in on the planet. They certainly seem to match the views I've had of the planet lately. The only trouble with CduC is that the surface features are not named so I need an alternative source to build up information on the names of the various areas.

 

In 2003 I managed over 30 individual sketches of Mars and in an attempt to piece together the detail I'd seen and to understand it, I constructed a simple cylindrical projection of the planet. I didnt litter the map with names, possibly because at the time i wasnt sure of the proper nomenclature and because i had no good chart to refer to. Over the intervening years I became almost obsessed by Mars and made many sketches at each apparition. Despite the pittiffully low angle of Mars this year, I have had some really excellent views and have recorded detail not seen in the 2003 observations. Presently I have 26 drawings from this apparition and have decided to have a go at yet another Mars map. In 2003 the southern hemisphere was turned towards us, while this year its the northern hemisphere. I think another home grown map will complement the one made in 2003 and in some respects improve on it. I think I will include more named features on the new one!

Attached is the 2003 original which was made by direct vision (south top & no diagonal).

Mike

 

[John]

What a superb piece of work Mike

It would be fascinating to compare a 2016 version with the 2003 one.

[mikeDnight]

19 minutes ago, John said:

What a superb piece of work Mike

It would be fascinating to compare a 2016 version with the 2003 one.

Thanks John.

It might be a month or so before I get round to transferring the drawings onto a grid. I'm hoping to get a few more observations of Mars if possible, but the weather here has been yuk for the past week. If i don't get the observations in the next few days I will lose Mars behind a high tree line in my west. I don't actually need the observations to complete my map as I've got all major meridians accounted for. It's just that I'd like to make the most of what I can get from home without having to resort to field trips.

Mike ☺

[colin2007]

That is one superb piece of work Mike!