Solar＆Planetary LtE for CMO/ISMO #14 (CMO #388)
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¤········Subject: Jupiter – Dark spots on NEBn
merged
Received:
Small
dark spots in the NEBn merged on 17 August!?
Tomio AKUTSU (
¤········Subject: Jupiter 17 August
Received:
Hi
All, I have attached RGB and CH4 Jupiter images from 17 August.
Best,
Don PARKER (
¤········Subject: Jupiter J110816 J110817
Received:
These
Jovian images are taken on 16 August and 17 August from Cebu. The
seeing was excellent.
Tomio AKUTSU (
¤········Subject: Jupiter 17 August
Received:
Fair
to good seeing this morning, so I boosted my focal length higher than my usual
comfort zone. Interesting small red spot that appears to
about to interact with the GRS.
Sean WALKER (S&T)
¤········Subject: Full disk solar mosaic, August 16th
Received:
Hi
all,
Here's
my full disk mosaic of the August 16th Sun complete with detached prom...
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/solar/2011/2011-08-16_09-26-32_SF70ds_flat.jpg
Best
regards,
Pete LAWRENCE (Selsey,
the
¤········Subject: Second detached prom animation
Received:
Hi
all, Here's another detached prominence animation from the 16th covering the
period from
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/solar/2011/2011-08-16_09-50-43_10-06-2.gif
Best
regards,
Pete LAWRENCE (Selsey,
the
¤········Subject: solar images
Received:
Hi
Guys, It seems you either get prominences or surface detail, but not both at
once. There was a large patch of low activity in DS but cloud stopped play. Two
nice proms were on display and a new AR was appearing over the solar horizon.
This was fizzling with activity some of which is captured here.
Best
wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
¤·······Subject: Jupiter J110815
Received:
Hi,
All; I have attached some of Jupiter images from
Best
wishes,
Tomio AKUTSU (
¤·······Subject: Detached prom, August 16th
Received:
Hi
all, There was a nice detached prominence visible off-limb this morning. Here's
a short animation of the event covering 6-minutes of real time.
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/solar/2011/SF70ds05-crop-anim8.gif
Best
regards,
Pete LAWRENCE (Selsey,
the
¤·······Subject: Transit of Venus Project Newsletter #3
Received:
Dear
all, The 2012 transit of Venus is now less than 300
days away. Venus just reached superior conjunction and is now definitively on
its way to transit the face of the sun next June. Last month we introduced a
couple of new projects and activities:
Creating 3D models of transit sites
Even
if you’re not in the position to physically mark a historical observing site,
you can still substantially contribute to the Mark that site! project. Marking sites can also be done virtually in Google
Earth. There’s already a Google Earth file with all the stations listed on our
‘Past transits’ page. What’s still missing are 3D
renderings of the observatories. By building 3D models of the observatories in
Google Earth, people will have the opportunity to get an idea of the layout of
the domes and cabins astronomers lived in for weeks, sometimes months, under
difficult circumstances. These models can also offer a means to project the
written accounts unto the factual surroundings, explore sightlines and examine
the orientation of the buildings with respect to the heavens. If you have plans
to model one or more observatories, please contact Steven van Roode: s.vanroode@transitofvenus.nl
Recovery
of old transit photographs
July
29, Randall Rosenfeld made a bold appeal to institutions and archives to see
whether they have transit or transit-related photographs with intriguing
stories lying in obscurity awaiting recovery. Are there any in a collection
near you? It might be worth your while to find out, particularly if an
institution in your area sponsored an observing team in 1874 or 1882. Please
contact Randall if you found any interesting items:
Transit
of Venus merchandise
Two
weeks ago we opened a webshop where you can buy mugs
and shirts. It's a nice way to let people know of the upcoming transit of
Venus. Imagine how wearing a transit of Venus shirt could serve as a
conversation starter. If you are planning a public observing session on transit
day, you can make your team stand out as members of the organising crew. There
are now two basic designs: one with the Transit of Venus Project's logo, and
one based on the golden medallion commemorating the 19th century French
expeditions. More designs will be added to the shop soon.
http://www.cafepress.co.uk/transitofvenusproject
Phone
app
I
would like to thank all of you who already have made a donation to fund the
development of our phone app. But we're still $13,000 short to pay for the
development costs. Be bold and make or increase your donation
? today! Without your support, we won't be able
to start developing the app that will assist you and thousands of others in
observing next year's transit. The main purpose of the phone app is to help you
with measuring the times of contact, and to enable you to submit your timings
to our website ? all with
just two taps on your phone's touch screen. Once submitted, your timings will
be used for a real-time measurement of the sun's distance. For more information,
see the detailed plan on Chuck Bueter's website:
www.transitofvenus.org/education/video-new-media/217-phone-app.
Your donations will be made to Astronomers Without Borders, and these contributions may be
tax-deductible.
You
are also invited to join our group on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/groups/108400462513165
If this newsletter was forwarded to you and
you would like to be on our mailing list, just send a message to
info@transitofvenus.nl and you'll be kept in the loop. If you're thinking about
contributing to our website, don't hesitate to contact us!
Clear
skies!
Steven van ROODE (
on
behalf of the Transit of Venus Project
¤·······Subject: Jupiter
Received:
Hi
All, An
image from last night.....the seeing was fairly poor
until 0430 (BST), when there was a quite significant (but gradual) improvement.
A
lovely sunrise followed.
Hopefully no strange looking artefacts on this
image...previous ones may well have, due indirectly to monitor problems (now
resolved I hope!) All the best
Simon KIDD (Welwyn, Herts, the
¤·······Subject: Jupiter 12 August
Received:
Hi
All,
I have attached some RGB, NIR, CH4 and UV
Jupiter images from 12 August.
Best,
Don PARKER (
¤·······Subject: Solar images
Received:
Hi
Guys here are some belated images from the 2nd August when the sun was putting
on a good show.
The
straight line in the white light image of spot 11263 was on two different
exposures so I suggest it is not an artifact.
best
wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤·······Subject: Jupiter 2011.08.11
Received:
Dears,
Under
good seeing, and that time my telescope was optically aligned:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/j20110811-MDe.jpg
Some
details can be seen inside the GRS, and following it in the SEB there are some
eruptive bright spots (one can be made out in the methane image) which are
recent (not present a few days before). In methane image, again only the
preceding south part of the SEB is dark.
The aspect of the STB is extremely interesting, it looks
like the preceding section preceding would be linked to the GRS, and the
following section is spread out in latitude in the zone. The longest
of the two barges in the
Also here are animations of all RGB and IR
images:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/videos/j20110811-MDe.gif
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/videos/j20110811i-MDe.gif
And
here are 2 montages (first a mix of RGB and IR, second full IR) of Jupiter, Io,
Ganymede and Europa:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/jupiter_20110811_io.jpg
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/jupiter_20110811i_io.jpg
Sincerely,
Marc DELCROIX (
¤·······Subject:
Dark segments following Arsia Mons
Received:
Dear Dr. Minami,
While I was wandering
through the Web last night, I have stumbled across a drawing of Mars by Prof. Shotaro
MIYAMOTO on 
a dark
segment near the dawn terminator, west of Arsia Mons. LCM was almost the same
as those of the images by Isao MIYAZAKI and Jose SURO which I have mentioned in
my latest LtE, and the season might have
been around
that with λ=245°Ls. Was that a same phenomenon as recorded in 1988 and
2003?(though possibly the shadowy Arsia Mons itself because the drawing was
taken some twenty days after the opposition day).
If that was the case, then we can say we
already know the probably meteorological phenomena occurred in these three
consecutive major Martian oppositions. I am also reviewing the drawings by
Japanese observers in 1956 apparition.
Good Seeing with Excellent Scopes!
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤·······Subject:
Mars Image 20110806
Received: 
Paul Maxon has permitted me to send one of his images that I
annotated to indicated the spread of dust clouds Eastward
from
Best regards,
Jim MELKA (ALPO)
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter 10 August
Received:
Hi All,
I have attached RGB, NIR and CH4 Jupiter
images from 10 August. The SEB following the GRS is still weak in methane.
Best,
Don PARKER (
¤·······Subject:
Mars - August 10th, 09:45ut
Received:
Hi Mr. Minami, Here is
my recent session of mars from august 10th under the most favourable
conditions.
BTW
(look-See) I was imaging jupiter under the same
conditions when i then imaged mars, Here is a Jupiter
image sets to be viewed by Crossing Your Eyes with a 3D perspective view and
Mars taken minutes apart enjoy and Clear Skies.
Efrain MORALES (
¤·······Subject:
Dark Segment west of Arsia Mons
Received: Thu
Dear Dr. Minami,
In response
to your question in your email on 31 July, I reviewed Isao
Taking
their locations and 
extents
into account, they were not, I think, the huge volcano's shadowy reliefs at
opposition à la Christophe PELLIER.
They might have been caused by some other meteorological process, like the one
you have proposed in CMO 2005 Mars Note (13) in CMO #330…possible morning side Föhn
phenomenon over Arsia Mons. Is the phenomenon not so rare in Martian southern
summer?
Good Seeing with Excellent Scopes!
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤·······Subject:
Uranus and Mars observations from SMk last 10th Aug.
Received:
Hi good morning Masami
san, here are some observations of Uranus and Mars performed last 10th.
Uranus:
with the time
being features become very faint in contrast for not saying confidential.
The main topics: dark
south hemisphere and clear south cap.
EZ is suspected but
probably not here on the view.
Would be interesting
to watch at different CM values to see if EZ is present partially for the least
(at sun set side seems to be, only). Not the patch and features collected last
opposition. The disk remain bright in blue color with no perceptible darkening edge.
Mars:
Solis Lacus
area accessible. At the terminator edge bright area (revealed
and shown as C, clear) in yellow color. The north pole area whitish (hood?). Argyre very clear
collected. Chryse clear also (brightness area were quoted in comparison).
Almost fixed images on Mars (height 28° only) and on Uranus (height 41°) on this morning with 360x
and the RC200. For your perusal. Good skies. Faithfully
Stanislas Jean MAKSYMOWICZ (
¤·······Subject:
Re: Edward Emerson Barnard Papers have been processed
Received: Thu
forwarded message:
From:
Barbara Kern
Date:
Subject:
[Aac_all] LIBRARY: Edward Emerson Barnard Papers have
been processed
All,
I am pleased to let
you know that the Edward Emerson Barnard Papers that were transferred from
Yerkes Observatory to the
Interestingly, the
Barnard Papers included 16 notebooks of observations and calculations from
Philip Fox, who worked briefly at Yerkes before becoming director of
Northwestern's Dearborn Observatory, and the first director of the Adler
Planetarium. The Fox notebooks were made
into a separate collection, with its own finding aid.
I am grateful to the John Crerar
Foundation who provided support for this project (and who also provided support
for processing the W.W. Morgan Papers and Yerkes Logbooks which will be
processed shortly). I am also grateful
to the staff of the
Barbara
https://astromail.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/aac_all
Bill SHEEHAN (
¤·······Subject:
Re: Matsushima
Received: Thu
Dear Masatsugu,
I think that it would be a lovely place to
see the Milky Way from.
On
> Dear Bill,
> As far as I
understand, Matsushima has nothing to do with the
> night sky or Amanogawa. Basho
really saw Amanogawa near Sado
on 7
> July (Lunar
Calendar), but Sado is located at the
> near Nawoetsu we visited) whereas Matsushima is facing to the
>
> the beauty of many small pine tree islands (nearly 260:
>
> famous beautiful lady Sei-shi
(Xi-Shi) in
> is not related
with the story of the Ginga (Amanogawa).
So I
> cannot understand
why Matsushima appears in your book.
> With best wishes,
> Masatsugu
>
Bill SHEEHAN (
¤·······Subject:
RE: Lafcadio HEARN
Received:
Dear Masatsugu,
Still mulling over the Lafcadio
Hearn essay--but meanwhile I will respond to the question about the Basho quote
(or rather misquote).
The full passage reads:
"Sun overhead before we left the
shrine, we hired a boat to cross to Matsushima, a mile or more away. We disembarked on
This then is the place where he finds
inspiration of the feminine beauty in a shining world; and refers to the
mountain god Oyamazumi (I misquoted!) as having made
it.
Best,
Bill SHEEHAN (
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter
Received:
Hi Guys
Another
late night out there with the moths, slugs and hedgehogs. Seeing was
detailed but was spoilt by a "transparent flag in the wind" rippling
over the image. Alt was low at 01:51ut
but at least I got to see the GRS.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤·······Subject:
Mars - August 7th, 09:33ut
Received:
Hi Mr. Minami, Here is
my most recent session of Mars from August 7th, Clear Skies.
Efrain MORALES (
¤·······Subject:
Dusty Mars on Aug 04 for your database
Received: Mon 8
Aug 2011 13:24:09 JST
Please see
attachment. Over the Winter I bought an 18-inch Newtonian, NGT-18 made by JMI
in 1982. So I have a new-old scope. It seems to have excellent optics. The
mirror was made by Galaxy Optics. Questions or comments?
Best regards,
Jim MELKA (ALPO;
¤·······Subject:
Re: PDF of your Essay in #388
Received:
Dear Masatsugu,
Very fine! Here is just two remarks on my side:
- Legend of figure 4: Hecates and non Hecatus (my
mistake) idem on Fig 9
- Figure 10:
"2010" apparition, not "2007"
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤·······Subject:
Re: Tanabata
Received:
Dear Masatsugu,
In the Galaxies book (my Guggenheim 2001
project which has now been an off and on thing for ten years), I write the
following passage, which I hope you will peruse for accuracy.
I will try later today or tomorrow to jot a
page or two about Lafcadio Hearn.
Best wishes,
Even from the northern
hemisphere, the Milky Way, seen from a clear dark site, exhilarates with its
magnificence. One northern hemisphere
witness to its grandeur, the Japanese haiku writer and pilgrim Basho, (1644-94)
looked across the sea to
High
over wild seas,
Surrounding
The
Basho wrote that haiku on the eve of Tanabata Matsuri (the “Evening of
the Seventh”), a Japanese summer star-festival celebrating the reunion (for one
night) of Orihime and Hikoboshi,
represented by the stars Vega and Altair. According to a legend originally
imported into
For the Northern Hemisphere lover of
galactic wonders, the separation is not by but from the Milky Way or at any
rate, from some of its most brilliant aspects. As the Galactic Center, in Sagittarius, lies at 20 degrees south latitude,
only from places south of the equator can the lover embrace many of the most
gleaming objects of his (or her) desire.
Travel to
Here one is almost overcome by the sense of
intense feminine beauty in a shining world. It must have been the mountain god Oya Mozumi who made this place. And
whose words or brush could adequately describe a world so divinely inspired? [iii] <#_edn3>
[i]
<#_ednref> Matsuo Basho, Narrow Road to the Interior and other Writings; trans. Sam Hamill.
[ii] <#_ednref> For a
classic recounting, see Lafcadio Hearn, The Romance of the Milky Way, and other
studies and stories (Boston: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1905).
[iii] <#_ednref> Basho,
Bill SHEEHAN (
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter J110803 J110804
Received:
These are the images
of Jupiter from 3 August and 4 August from
Best wishes
Tomio AKUTSU (
¤·······Subject:
Re: Lafcadio HEARN
Received:
Tanabata_Festival_in_Edo_(Hiroshige,_1852).jpg
Dear
Masatsugu,
I will try to write something on Hearn,
though as you guessed, I am really busy--
I do know of the festival day you speak of 
(Tanabata) and even referred to it in my Milky Way book that
will be published soon. I will think of
it. (Do you mean July 7, which has passed, or August 7 which is still to come?)
Here is an attachment.
Best,
Bill SHEEHAN (
(Ed Note): Tanabata is on 7 July, but counted
in a Lunar Calendar, and this year it’s on 6 August in the Solar Calendar.
¤·······Subject:
Solar images 31 July
Received:
Hi Guys
Here are a few images from the last day of
July. Seeing was not too shabby. It was great to have so many spot groups to
image, plus a decent prom too.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter 2011.08.04
Received:
Dears,
Unfortunately under
bad conditions (scope was not optically aligned, and clouds were passing by):
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/j20110804-MDe.jpg
Sincerely
Marc DELCROIX (
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter from Dusty C14
Received:
Hi Guys
Hi finally blew the dust of the C14 and shot
an early Jupiter. I went to bed late as opposed to getting up early. This was
the highest in the
Image is an RGB unlike
last apparitions IR SG B IRL, The full colour reluctant to show at 35deg Alt
It was great though to see the monster back on
screen even at f 22 on a flea 3, Filters
were Trutek type 2. + Anti dispersion prism unit.
Seeing was like water streaming past over good
detail
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter J110802
Received: Thu
Hi all
I here attach Jupiter image on
You can see a broader belt between SEBs and StrZ preceding GRS. It is bright in CH4 while shadowy in UV.
Best Wishes
Tomio AKUTSU (
¤·······Subject:
Solar images:
Received: Thu
Hi all,
The last capture for a
while I think as the weather sets in. The trio of groups is now heading towards
the north western limb.
Best regards,
Pete LAWRENCE (Selsey, the
¤·······Subject:
August 3 solar images
Received: Thu
Hi Folks--a ton of
activity on the sun today with lots of flaring from AR 11261 and AR 11263. You can see all of my images from today
including hhe flares at:
http://scopetrader.com/jimlafferty/?page=59
Attached is a pic of the flare in AR 11261 along with a comparison shot
taken 16 minutes earlier. Best Regards!
Jim
LAFFERTY
(
¤······· Subject:
Re: Jupiter
Received:
Dear All, A very misty
morning here, very good seeing but transparency very poor (up to 250mS
shutter!). Problems with Registax 6 with these
varying frames, so reverted to v.5. All the best
Simon KIDD (Welwyn, Herts, the
¤·······Subject:
Mars Uranus observations on last 2nd
Received:
Dear Masami San,
My report
from the morning 2nd august concerning Mars and Uranus. Some abnormal
brightness of the Uranus disk observed 
with the
light blue filter (usually dim results with). For your
perusal.
Unfortunately the meteo here becomes bad for long days probably without the possibility
of follow-up on Uranus. Have good receipt. My best regards
Stanislas
MAKSYMOWICZ (
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter 2 August
Received:
Hi All,
I have attached some RGB, CH4, NIR and UV
Jupiter images from 2 August.
Best,
Don PARKER (
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter and its Galilean satellites 2011.08.01
Received:
Dears,
Under a better seeing
than the two days before:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/j20110801-MDe.jpg
In the methane image
again only SEBn is dark preceding the bright GRS
rising. Also bright in methane are a SSTB obal, the
red spot in NNTZ and in the same zone close to meridian the white spots.
Above and preceding
GRS we can see the small thin dark band.
A dark brown barge in
2 animations, IR in
RVB:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/videos/j20110801i-MDe.gif
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/videos/j20110801-MDe.gif
Several montages with
from left to right Ganyméde, Callisto,
Io, Europa and Jupiter, satellites processed separately
with some details on Ganymede and maybe Callisto -
where Jupiter is B&W it is taken under IR:
With the 4 satellites:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/j20110801_ir_sat_full.jpg
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/j20110801_rgb1_sat_full.jpg
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/j20110801_rgb2_sat_full.jpg
Close-up without the farther Ganymede:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/j20110801_ir_3sat_full.jpg
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/j20110801_rgb1_3sat_full.jpg
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/j20110801_rgb2_3sat_full.jpg
Sincerely,
Marc DELCROIX (
¤·······Subject:
Poking out EM
Received:
Dear Christophe,
Yes you have been
looking for poked out EM images! For a complete set of RGB/LRGB and the
components especially with good B or UV image showing shadowy EM, examples may
be extremely rare, almost none. …
However, I think I
once have seen such a set of images, in the CMO galleries? HST
images? or in the probe images like ESA Mars
Express' raw images, I just forgot. May be my memory is confusing with an image
with the developing dust storm. I'm gonna make a review
for it later.
By the way, I have to make the Japanese
translation of the note for the coming issue of CMO Japanese version. Dr. Minami
will probably send me a laid out PDF.
But could you inform
me if you make some change in the manuscript?…I'm not good at the
Japanese language, so the translation takes time!
Best Wishes,
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤·······Subject:
Mars - July 30th, 09:36ut, 2011
Received:
Hello (Saludos) To the CMO/ISMO team, My
first attempt on the red planet (Mars) it's not the best but some albedo features could be seen. Clear Skies to All.
Efrain MORALES (
*See the images in the
New corner “2011/12
ISMO Mars Gallery” or in
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/110730/EMr30July11.jpg ¤·······Subject:
Re: Elysium image
Received:
Dear Reiichi,
I had seen the two HST
images that you refer to but did not retain them. For the 3rd may 1997, the
summits look just outside the mist for me; and for the Feb. 95 image, I think
that we just see Elysium through the mist, note above the mist. I mean that
it's faint and that we just see the ground by transparence...
The Elysium region
produces much less mist than Tharsis, if do not say silly things, and is
located further to the north, so it's generally free from the influence of the
equatorial cloud belt observed during perihelical
apparitions. We may just lack situations where we would be able to decide if
it's able to poke or not.
Now about Don's image,
I just sincerely do not see the two
Masatsugu : thanks for
your notification of publication!
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤·······Subject:
Solar Images
Received:
Hi Guys
Here are a few images of the current spot
groups. Repeated cloud cover prevented montages. I could just grab a 30 second
run between clouds. Seeing was poor in the
wake of the clouds too.
Ok enough whinging and
excuses, I should be thankful it was sunny here and there!
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤·······Subject:
August 1 - White light Sun
Received:
Hi all,
Here's today's (August
1st) Sun in white light.
Best regards,
Pete LAWRENCE (Selsey, the
¤·······Subject:
Elysium image
Received:
Dear Christophe,
Just after I had sent
my latest email to you, I noticed that the left-side image attached was the
same as the left-hand one in your draft's Fig.4! And on the 3 
Apr 2010
image by DPk which Dr. Minami pointed out in his
latest email to us, I think relief (like) EM image can be seen through the
morning mist (please check attached enhanced image).
The reason we can't find the image of dark EM
poking out of the morning mist may be…the mist appearing over Elysium area may
be thick or high, EM is not so high(already on the Elysium Rise of relatively
small extent), or the flank and the caldera of EM may be not so dark as Tharsis
cousins, etc.…
Best,
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤·······Subject:
Draft for the note on Elysium
Received:
Dear
Christophe,
Great draft; I think
it's almost the time to say“Let's go!”
As to “Non-Poking EM beneath
the morning mist you mentioned, how about these? (find
attached).
Best,
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤·······Subject:
30th July in white light
Received:
Very nice Pete! Here
are two of the regions in white light shot at 3.7 meter focal length with my
10" scope.
http://www.avertedimagination.com/img_pages/twelve_sixty.html
http://www.avertedimagination.com/img_pages/twelve_sixtythree.html
cheers,
Alan
FRIEDMAN
(
¤·······Subject:
ISMO 288 draft
Received:
Dear Reiichi, dear Masatsugu,
Please find attached
the developed draft for the Elysium note. The figures are in the zipped file as
well as in the text.
The conclusions were a
bit changed since the first summary draft, as I propose some relevant images
for a possible detection of a relief effect on amateur images. I have not
included every aspect we have been sharing since two months by e-mail; please
add anything you find interesting. Especially, a word about the
"non-poking" aspect beneath morning mist must be included I think...
I did not found any example either on HST data (and I have a lot).
About the
aspect during the 2001 dust storm; I have attached a pdf
complete article from Wang, Toigo and Strausberg where you will find good MGS images. On figure 9
(page 19) we can see EM and HT darkened by the storm, I think; the dark Tharsis
volcanoes show up very well on the same images.
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
Le
> Dear Christophe and Rei-ichi,
>
> I am reading the correspondences between
you with interest. How
> about the
problem about Elysium thereafter? We hope you have
> already gotten
nice points and will finish the essay and send it
> to us by 10
August.
>
> As to Christophe's first question whether
we can find the dark
> caldera of
Elysium
> also sometimes looked
for, but have failed. A nice morning mist
> over Elysium is
found on the images produced on
> SWk and DPk (072 degrees Ls) whereas the dark spot cannot be
> visible. Was the
mist thick or higher? However its caldera is
> smaller (about
14 km) and must look different from those at
> Tharsis, and hence it may be hard to
detect the dark spot, while
> the bright spot
of the caldera is frequently caught.
>
> On the other hand a faint SN-directed
shadowy central zigzagged
> segment on the classical
Elysium is seen for example on the
> images of WFl on
11, 12, and 13 November 2009. This was also
> more vivid when
the 2001 yellow cloud covered the area: For
> example see Mo
(MORITA)'s IR images on
> see this may be related with the ridge of
Montes inside Elysium
> under the thin
dust covering. (In the case of
> others, their
calderas were clearly dark poking out of the dust
> - already seen at
>
> The interesting images of the EAS
provided by Rei-ichi are
> showing Elysium
> point is related
with the caldera or the upper flank. Does
> Elysium
>
> Anyway I hope you will put forward some good
answers to my
> primitive
questions.
>
> By the way, Rei-ichi,
do you think the morning shadow near Arsia
>
> Arsia Mons while the phase angle is very
small? Refer to the
> photo by My cited
at page Ser2-0602 in
>
>
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmomn3/CMO330.pdf
>
> Anyway I look forward to receiving your
manuscript with
> photos/drawings
to be cited by 10 August.
>
> With best wishes,
> Masatsugu
¤·······Subject:
July 30 solar images
Received:
Hi Folks--
Managed a 5 hour solar
imaging session with the Lunt 100, Coronado 90, and the ES127 ED with Lunt
wedge yesterday--a few of the shots are attach here but you can find the rest
at the link below. A great week for the
sun!
I’m sure you'd all
agree, the sun has been especially beautiful in both
white light and Hα this week! Proms, spots,
active areas...whew!
Jim LAFFERTY (CA, the
http://scopetrader.com/jimlafferty/
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter 2011.07.30
Received:
Dears,
Jupiter under average
conditions with a smaller focal length than usual (a bit too small to my
opinion):
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/j20110730-MDe.jpg
As on other
amateur images, we can see the white rifts following GRS and passing north of
it, the aspect of the SEB in methane (only SEBs
preceding GRS is really dark), the dark barge in NEB, and a white spot rising
between south of NEB and EZ, which appears white in methane absorption band.
Sincerely,
Marc DELCROIX (
¤·······Subject:
30th July h-alpha shots
Received:
Hi all,
Here are a couple of
shots from July 30th. The sky didn't really clear properly until the afternoon
and the seeing was a bit wobbly as a result. The three active regions chasing
one another across the disk are the key features with a smaller 'hotspot'
appearing to the west of the trio.
Best regards,
Pete
LAWRENCE (Selsey,
the
¤·······Subject:
Saturn 2011.07.29
Received:
Dears,
My 29th and last
Saturn for this apparition taken at 20° elevation under sunset
:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/s20110729-MDe.jpg
We still
can see in the RGB the GWS without any details in the North temperate/tropical
area.
That has been an amazing apparition this year
with the apparition of this Great White Spot and many observations of spokes,
definitely proving Saturn is worth watching !
Sincerely,
Marc DELCROIX (
¤·······Subject:
Re: A Real Mars Globe
Received： Sun
31 July 2011 01:44:45 JST
Dear Reiichi,
Yes it was quite fun
because I could "simulate" every view I wanted! It was painted in
2002; at the time I had not witnessed any perihelic
apparitions but the intermediate 2001 one (a bit too young to really observe in
1986-88-90) and I had almost only observe the northern hemisphere of Mars. I
was eager to anticipate the change of geometry; The
markings are those prior to the 2001 global storm (I had mainly painted it from
MGS data and HST photos).
Yes
Best,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤·······Subject:
Sunspot chain 7/28, 1200 UT
Received:
Couldn't
resist this grouping. 80mm, 07A
Sean WALKER (S&T)
¤·······Subject: Solar image
Received:
Hi Guys
Here are a bunch of images from the 28th
seeing was not good, but good view of the new spots was had.
I have been experimenting with my single
stack setups and white light. The white light images were taken with a IR 742nm, pass filter as opposed to the normal Green Baader solar continuum filter. On this day the IR did a
better job in the seeing.
Note the subtle difference in spot detail on
the montaged comparison image between ,5 and .7A the field lines go right into the umbra on
the .5A. The smaller spotlets are more visible in .7A
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤·······Subject:
A Real Mars Globe
Received： Sun
31 July 2011 00:29:30 JST
Dear Christophe,
What a fantastic real
Mars globe, and how sad to hear the paint was finally ruined! I guess you
already have many virtual Mars globes of various apparitions in your PC, but I
believe the old real globe of your own painting which you could have been
holding in your hands gave you a lot of special fun.
I myself have several ready-made Mars globes.
Next door to us is a cozy pub (our home/clinic is in
the midst of our town's combat zone, once the red-light district) where I keep
my own personal bottle of sake as well as my smallest 12cm across Mars globe. It's great fun drinking at the corner seat (almost for my
exclusive use) with my globe…I noticed on it the other day that Hellas Planitia and Alba Mons form perfect antipodes! I hope I can
enjoy my sake sometime with a Mars globe of my own painting!
Best Wishes,
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤·······Subject:
observations of Mars and Uranus this morning 30th
Sent:
Good afternoon,
Enclosed here some
observations of Mars and Uranus performed with the RC200mm F9 Vixen. Not bad
seeing during the period except at the sun rise levels becoming worst.
On
Mars:
The
terminator side seems hazy. Mare Boreum
and Utopia well accessible visually without being contrasted as features in
south part. Difficult to say more.
On
Uranus:
The south cap is clear.
The south hemisphere is darker than the north (seems to be constituted with 2
band system (W8 filter). 
The dark
border of the south cap with the aid of the light blue filter is still here but
fainter. With no filter, the equatorial zone seems to be, but suspected only. Difficult to say more. Indeed the given contrast levels are
amplified for the report.
Observation conditions
are given on the sketches.
For your
perusal. Best regards
Stanislas
MAKSYMOWICZ (
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter 7/28 (series)
Received:
Attached is my full
series of Jupiter data recorded between
Kind regards,
Sean WALKER (S&T)
¤·······Subject:
Re: Real Relief Image
Received:
Dear Reiichi,
Great
simulation ;-)). I like once to play with styrofoam spheres for painting globes of Mars. I had
one nicely done: check some photos here! I do not have it anymore. After a few
years the paint was getting destroyed. And of course I have no time any more to
make a new
one...
best wishes
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤·······Subject:
Re: [hstjupiter] Jupiter colour [1 Attachment]
Received:
Hi Dave,
I do agree that the
HST image you're referring to has an excellent color balance. HST views can be a good reference, though
they are not always perfect. Some are made with color
layers that do not belong to the visual range or do not exactly match it (I
think that the 2009 one was assembled with an UV layer instead of blue, for
example). However this image is made with a synthetic G image
; that way a given image can look perfect yet a true G filter would have
brought different nuances. On many of the RsGB image
I have tried on the past on Jupiter or Mars, the results looked to take on an
orange hue that was not really natural...
They are many things
that will make the colors change on an image and this
makes the research of a sole reference a bit hazardous. Even seeing conditions
will tweak the balance because they will artificially change the relative
contrasts on each R, G, B frame. Different cameras, different filters or
processing methods (in this respect, I find that many LRGB images we are
sharing are not correctly colored : the grey L image is still showing on the final image and
the colors are too pale)...
Although I'm personally
very careful about colors, because of all this I have
no hope of getting "the" true colors. I
prefer instead the concept of "reliable" colors : you will have
different nuances for different observers, but once they are skilful and pay
attention to this problem, you'll still be able to rely on every images to
interpret what' going on the planet.
For example, last
year's GRS was colorful; but deep orange? Reddish orange? Pinkish orange? All
this nuances are not that important providing you still can tell from them that
the color was intensified (but if it was grey pink on
an image, then it must have been declared "unreliable"...).
At any time, having
knowledge about a planet is a great help. If you know how a given detail must
look on the image, this will help you to find the color
(... or to decide it definitely does not have its usual tint!)
Finally a direct view
at the eyepiece is not to be forgotten. Look at the planet and try to define
the colors. Your eye has its own limitations,
however from CCD it has the advantage of not being able to make informatical processings;
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
Le
[Attachment(s) from Dave Tyler
]
By:
david.tyler10@... File Name: Jup2011 colour STD suggestion _DT.jpg
Posted:
Hi
Guys, John has just put up some Jupiter images from Hubble as part of the SEB
discussion. There has been a lot of comms on ALPO about Jupiter colour and screen standards
etc. It does not really matter what guys set their screen colours at, we will
still get just as much variation.
In my opinion the only way they will ever be
anywhere near the same, will be if everyone has the same colour reference image
on screen whilst processing.
To
this end, I personally think the Hubble shots are a good reference. The
composite John has put together from Amy Simon's data is how I personally like
to See Jupiter and is how I see it most often
portrayed on the TV programs.
I
do hasten to add I agree it is often about personal taste and that this is only
my personal preference. I have made the
oddly coloured Hubble image in the set, to appear the same as the Amy Simon
shot.
Our
brains have a built in auto white balance and if we look at almost any coloured
image long enough it will appear correctly colour balanced. Now if you put
alongside an image you previously accepted as correct it will show how grossly
poor we are at judging colour from memory.
Some
Musicians have perfect pitch but I don't know anyone who has the "chromic"
equivalent.
Chris's
color images are the most consistent I have ever
seen. He does have the planets pretty
well over head forever which is a great help.
Have fun Guys
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤·······Subject:
Mars observation report 2nd July
Received:
Dear Sirs,
Here is my first
contribution about Mars present opposition performed with the 150mm refractor.
I attach also here a
first view of Uranus with the same means.
I would like to raise
a question to the Mars section:
"During the
Meudon meeting it was set a proposition consisting in affirming that the blue
clearing effect remains more coming from the
reflectivity properties of the ground more than the scattering properties of
the high layers of the planet atmosphere".
This is an interesting
study but when considering this proposition which kind of investigation methods
can be undertaken in order to split such, or hopping to discriminate such? Is
it possible to expose such investigation methods in the CMO bulletin? This
could be interesting for the community of observers.
Kind regards
Stanislas
MAKSYMOWICZ (
¤·······Subject:
Apology for calling someone an idiot
Received:
Dear Masatsugu,
Please, in response to Sam Whitby’s comment
in the latest CMO, accept my apology for calling someone an idiot in a previous
(hot-headed) correspondence. Doing so was an idiotic thing for me to do, and I
do regret it.
Sincerely,
William SHEEHAN (
¤·······Subject:
Real Relief Image
Received:
Dear
Christophe,
You are absolutely
right in interpreting the relief-like images of Tharsis Montes and Elysium
Volcanoes…they are indeed real relief images:
I carried out a simple primitive simulation
to test how huge Martian low-profile volcanic mounds look near the limb in near
opposition period:
An equal-proportion “Olympus
Mons" was made with white clay on a styrofoam
sphere of 15cm across. Then the sphere was lit with a collimated light
beam with 
“the
volcano” located near the terminator. And it was photographed at two different
angles to make a half-Mars shot and a full-Mars one respectively (attaching
here). The result needs no explanation, it shows a
real relief image of a shadowy side with a sunlit side of the mound just as you
pointed out. The low-profile seems to be the point；A steeper peak enough
to cast long shadow will result in “shadow hiding” by the peak itself to render
it non-3D appearance in the vicinity of near opposition limb.
Also attached here are very interesting images
captured from the ESA Mars Express's animation:
http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMOR15XT9G_0.html
You can see many many familiar features in this animation; Tharsis Montes,
Argyre, Douglass & Lowell craters, NPC close-up, shadowed Apolinaris Patera,
Best Wishes
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
PS: In your latest
email, your voice calling for visual observing wasn't subtle for me, flooded
between the lines！
¤·······Subject:
RE: solar images
Received:
Hello folks,
To complement Dave's
fine images from July 22, here are my Ha shots from the following day, July
23. All are either with the double stacked
Jim LAFFERTY (
¤·······Subject:
solar images
Received:
Hi Guys
Here are the current
three active regions. Not a great deal of activity surrounding 2 of the spots,
but a fair amount in the wake of 1251.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
¤·······Subject:
Re: Pseudo-relief-like images of Tharsis Montes
Received:
Dear Reiichi,
I'm making an answer
to you quite a long time after this message, but I'm actually fully working on
the note so I'm re-investigating all our correspondence. I think on my part
that the 3D effect is real, is really an image of a shadowy side with a sunlit
side of the volcanoes. The final proof of that is that we can detect from the Earth,
on amateur images, the progressive darkening of the shadowy parts with the our (we can also see this on "
>Besides indicating Arsia Mons, the green
arrows are intended to
point the
delicate notches on the limbs just over the volcano. In the
2003 CMO Mars Gallery,
on some images taken in the period around the
opposition day, extremely
conspicuous dark spots are recorded on the
morning limbs just
over Arsia Mons；some
examples are on the images of：
Donald C PARKER 25 Aug
2003 04:17GMT ω=058°W George HALL 29 Aug
06:30GMT ω=056°W
Ed GRAFTON 29 Aug 06:47GMT ω=059°W …Were the dark
spots other Föhn
Phenomena!?
Oh that's
really interesting. This very dark line was absolutely intriguing at the
time... but we will note that it's darker in red light. It should be less
contrasted in red light? Hall and Grafton are respectively RRGB and R/IR-RGB
processing, the ones that eliminate strongly the atmosphere on (pseudo) color images. Yet it still shows up contrasty.
Back to the note, I
have re-processed the Pic image and I have done well
(see attached). Thanks to it, it's much easier to detect Elysium and Hecatus on amateur images. In 2007, I have three successful
amateurs (Peach, Casquinha, Flanagan).
Some in 2003 as well...
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter 20 July
Received:
Hi All,
I have attached some RGB, CH4, NIR and UV
Jupiter images from 20 July. Oval BA is visible.
Best,
Don PARKER (
¤·······Subject:
DSLR Moon
Received:
Hi Guys
I have just been experimenting with 
a DLSR for
single frame (as opposed to mosaics, which Lunar
eclipses don't allow) whole moon shots, not as easy as one might think to get
sharp images.
This colour shot is only four images stacked
in R6. The seeing was not an issue until I saw the rippling in registax. The moon was at 29 deg alt.
The 5 inch
The camera was a Canon EOS20DA with 8.2 Megapixels. The 5 inch AP was
40 inch fl. The 1411 pix high image had 895 pixels
spare. The 2336 pix height Chip would just cope with
60 inch FL (Increased the pixel count in the image so as to be 900 high at 50%
to fit the screen). Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Buckinghamshire, the
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter this morning
Received:
Hi All, Conditions
only fair this morning. All the best
Simon KIDD (Welwyn,
Herts, the
¤·······Subject:
SEB aspect in CH4 after a SEB revival
Received:
Hi all,
We have all noticed
the curious aspect of the SEB in the methane (CH4) band this year, especially
in the longitudes following the GRS - the belt is not dark, as some of you
commented. Suspecting some relationship with the SEB revival of last year I
went to check old images to see if there were some preceding occurrences of the
phenomenon.
It seems that is has
happened already at least twice after an SEB revival; and it comes along with
two other aspects in other filter bands:
- In near IR (or R)
the SEB is blank where it is "not dark" in CH4
- In B/UV it is
"normally" dark.
This set of images
present some old HST images taken after the revivals of 1990 and 1993 (sorry
the file is big)
http://pellier.christophe.perso.sfr.fr/SEB%20aspect%20in%20CH4%20post%20SEB%20revival.jpg
In 1991 the CH4 SEB is
less dark than it was in 1993 while faded (Pic du
Midi data not included). The belt is blank f. the GRS in IR and very dark in
UV.
In 1994 this is the
same, with a new feature that we see also in 2011: the southern half of the
Equatorial zone is abnormally dark ("normal" state is very bright).
In 2011 both are almost impossible to differentiate. Nothing irregular seems to
show up in all other bands...
After an SEB revival,
it has been noticed sometimes an "orange flush" over the SEB (John
Roger's work). Well visible in 1991, and to my eyes in
1994 the SEB was pinkish-orange as well. If the belt is dark in UV and clear in
IR, then it must take on a pink-orange hue in RGB.
Therefore the
"not dark" state of the SEB could be related to the pink-orange color that would then be a mid-level haze spreading over
the relevant longitudes?
Final remarks:
- 2008 is a counter-example
(possibly coherent): the SEB has a normal dark aspect in CH4 after the revival
of 2007, and is active in near-IR. No coloration is noted (BAA report)
- I hardly see the
coloration in 2011, except maybe in some small sectors of the belt. Don's RGB
included on the set is one of those images; it also shows small reddish points
(barges I assume) in the belt also visible in 1991 and 1994.
- Visual observers
should make some estimations of the color of the
belt, especially following the GRS, this would be most
welcomed...
What do you think?
Christophe
PELLIER (
¤·······Subject: Transit of Venus Project searches for an author
Received:
Dear
Masatsugu Minami,
You
already might have looked into the international Transit of Venus Project's
website, launched about two months ago to get people involved in the
observation of the next transit of Venus in June 2012:
The
website offers background information, and projects and activities you can join
in to. On the home page, blog posts concerning the transit are being published
regularly by a varied team of authors: Chuck Bueter (eduactor), Randall Rosenfeld (archivist of RASC), Andrea Wulf (writer), Michael Zeiler
(cartographer), Nandivada Rathnasree
(director of New Delhi Planetarium), Paolo Tanga
(planetary scientist) and myself (high school physics
teacher).
Yet,
I feel that a voice from Japan is still missing, whereas the Japan has a lot to
offer if it comes to the 2012 transit of Venus: an interesting history (1874,
1882), and ”most importantly” the entire transit will be visible from this part
of the globe in 2012. I expect a great many observers will travel to
I
wondered if you would like to consider writing short blog posts for our website
on a voluntary basis with a frequency of, say, twice a
month. Subjects may range from historical stories of the transit, accounts of
the 2004 transit, ideas for educational activities to tips for organising
public observing sessions as long as it has to do with the transit of Venus.
You may go through the current blog posts to see what has been published so
far.
I
would be very happy to add you to our team of authors! I look forward to hearing
from you.
Best
regards,
Steven van ROODE
(
Transit
of Venus Project