A couple things to look for on Mars

I was observing Mars tonight with my 8" Dob at powers from 203x to
405x and noticed a couple interesting things. Have you guys noticed:

1. The south polar cap has a small break or rift in it that cuts it in
two unequal pieces!
2. Blue haze on the northeast limb.
3. The western limb is slightly softer than the eastern, indicating
the start of the gibbous phase.
4. Interesting and prominent hook at the end of Sinus Sabaeus.
5. Two large parallel features (like horns) extending east from Syrtis
Major, one vaguer than the other.

Also, I spent nearly an hour on Plato on the Moon and sketched all the
hints of craterlets I could see. Though the "Big Four" were prominent
pits, the rest appeared only as white spots. I later confirmed a
total of nine from David Knisely's ASCII craterlet map (A, B, C-D, g,
h2, p3, f, q2). "p3" may be questionable because my notes only
mention a large white spot in that location. I thought I had a tenth
(craterlet "n") but it turns out that I only saw the prominent white
spot next to it and couldn't resolve the craterlet itself.

Ritesh