"Paul Henney" wrote in message ...
Location: Sheffield UK
Time 00:20 - 01:00 UT
Instrument : f/9.8 120 mm achromat.
10mm kellner ; 7.5mm plossel, 2x barlow
Seeing was poor. SPC distinct but little other detail other than vague dark
mass towards SW limb (? Mare Erythraeum according to
MPII).

Hoping for better than this given that disc diam. was about 19 arc seconds
but assume will need to wait until Mars rises a bit higher..can't afford to
be that late up :-)

pj

I too observed it on July 13th, at 07:20 UT. This is my second
observation of this apparition. It keeps getting better and better
(see my Mars Obs. 06/28/03 post).

Location was about 40 miles SW of Chicago, with a 76mm Newtonian,
25mm, 10mm and 6mm eyepieces (scope and eyepieces are Orion brand).

The SPC was easily visible in the 10mm and 6mm eyepeices (and this is
the first time that I've seen either of the polar caps on the planet).
Also a bit of shading was around the SPC, with a small "hook"
extending from it in the direction toward the center of the planet.
This was Mare Sirenum. I didn't observe any other detail on the
planet, although my session was brief so I didn't spend a lot of time
looking. This time, my scope was properly cooled down.

Dave Johnson.