Mars 29-June-2003, Syrtis Major region

It was clear this morning for a good but brief viewing of Mars; I woke up a little later than I intended, and my viewing was cut short by the onslaught of pre-dawn Lousiana mosquitoes. I did bring out a pad for sketching, but after a day's rain yesterday, the mosquitoes were vicious enough that I knew sketching wouldn't work. :^(

The attached picture shows Syrtis major near center. Above it near the south polar cap Hellas is still looking somewhat subdued; Libya to the left of Syrtis Major appeared brighter than Hellas.

Attached Image:

Bruce,

An excellent image of Mars showing pretty much the same albedo features descibed in my own observation on June 26, with the exception of the extensive limb haze. The appearance of Hellas does change over time due to several factors (e.g. inclination of the martian globe to Earth (De), presence of vapors (water) within the vast basin (and even dust at times), etc.). This region bears monitoring in the future as it may be the site of dust storm development.

Please keep up the excellent work.

Carlos