Friday, December 02, 2022

confirmed polar cap

Late last night Chris V asked if I had seen Mars.

You bet.

We briefly compared notes. 

Later he shared some detailed observations and some remarks caught my eye.

He was using a Maksutov on an equatorial mount so his FOV orientation was the same as mine (mirror reversed).

He noted not a "concentrated feature that varied between a spot and a broader 30-45 degrees patch."

The Mars Mapper app he thought nearly identical to his view. "Syrtis Major's wedge appeared to be extending to the upper right, pointing toward the polar cap."

Chris also noted that SkySafari confirmed the Martian pole was "just a little bit offset (counter-clockwise) from the direction Syrtis Major pointed at."

That sealed the deal for me.

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