Solar＆Planetary LtE Now for CMO/ISMO #15 (CMO #389)
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¤·······Subject:
Re: Jupiter 18th Sept
Received:
Dear All
An image
from this morning. Seeing was fair, good for short moments.
Regards
Simon KIDD (Welwyn, Herts, the
¤·······Subject: Mars images (
Received:
Hi all,
Here are some Mars
images from the 15th – the first set of the new apparition.
The Planet is still
very distant, but some interesting features can be seen. Weak
clouds extending over Tharsis and bright clouds around the NPC.
http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2011_09_15rgb.jpg
Best Wishes
Damian
PEACH
(Selsey, the
¤·······Subject:
Transit of Venus Project Newsletter #4
Received:
Dear all,
A new academic year
has started, and it is therefore a good thing to give special attention to
science teachers and their students, as well as others who kindle enthusiasm
for astronomy in young people. But first two exciting news
items.
Hubble
Telescope will observe the transit of Venus
The Hubble Telescope
will be used to observe the transit of Venus next year. The telescope won't be
pointed at the sun however, but at the moon instead. Why? When directed at the
sun, the delicate instruments of the space telescope would immediately be
destroyed by the intensity of the focussed sun light. Safely pointed at the
moon, the telescope will measure the intensity of the reflected sun light.
During the transit of Venus, part of the solar disk will be blocked, resulting
in a small decrease of sun light reflected off the moon's surface. This is a
very special way of observing the transit, and is somewhat reminiscent of the
way exoplanets are detected by other stars hundreds
of light years away. For an interview with
http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/2011/09/09/hubble-telescope-participates/
Development
of Phone app commenced
Last week work has
started on the development of our free phone app, which will facilitate our
Measure the Sun's Distance Project, assisting you in timing the start and end
of the transit, submitting your observations to our international database, and
exchanging your experiences with others. First, a very basic version will be
put together with only the most essential functions, which will be ready in
about two months. For a test run, we are seeking volunteers who would like to
test this basic version and give us suggestions for improvement. If you would
like to participate in this test run, just contact Steven van Roode at s.vanroode@transitofvenus.nl
Educational
resources
Not only is the
transit of Venus a unique astronomical phenomenon, not to be seen again until
2117, it also has a lot of potential for science education, from kindergarten
to college. No student should be denied a view of the transit of Venus. Likely,
future astronomers will remember the 2012 transit of Venus as the key
experience that influenced their career choice. On the Transit of Venus
Project's website, you will find a new page with a selection of the best
educational projects and recourses you can readily use in your classroom. Next
to the actual observation of the transit on June 5 and 6, 2012, we also offer
many opportunities to make your students acquainted with celestial mechanics,
the history of astronomy and today's scientific frontiers. We would like to
keep our survey up to date of high standard. If you know of any new, promising
initiatives, or if you are working on educational material yourself, just let
us know.
I invite
you to join our group on Facebook to keep in touch
with other transit enthusiasts. If this email was forwarded to you, and you too
would like to receive our monthly newsletter, just send an email to info@transitofvenus.nl and we'll keep you in the loop.
Sincerely,
Steven van
ROODE
(the Netherland)
¤·······Subject:
Moon this evening
Received:
Hi all, Yet another clear night here with Jupiter and the Moon
dominating
Here is a waning
gibbous Moon, taken a few moments ago
It was taken through a
4 inch F7 refractor mated to a Canon 550D camera body
cheers
Jamie COOPER (
¤·······Subject:
Solar Images
Received:
Hi Guys Here are a few from the 15th. Reasonable seeing and
awesome DS views. I could see
white "dots" moving across the light bridge in spot AR1289 .
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
¤·······Subject:
Solar images
Received:
Hi Guys
here are a few 13th September images
of some the MANY active regions.
best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter with "new" telescope (15/09)
Received:
Hi friends,
Sorry for my long imaging silence these past months but I was without
telescope. My usual 10" cassegrain always had
weird optical problems on the secondary mirror that prevented it to perform as
it should (wide turn-down edge, strong surface defects...). Last spring with a
friend of mine who is highly skilful in telescope
making, we decided to try a last chance "repairing", by modifying the
optical design of the OTA from cassegrain to gregory.
The telescope of
Gregory is an old, almost forgotten design (historically discovered even before
the newton) that uses a parabolic primary (like the cassegrain), with an elliptic concave secondary, located
after the focus plane, to the contrary of the cassegrain
that uses an hyperbolic convex secondary located before prime focus.
As a result, the tube
is longer than a cassegrain, but in return, the
secondary is much more easier to figure... this was the main interest of the modification !
Now some 6 months
later I'm happy to tell you that I own a successful 250 mm gregorian
telescope. Each aberration visible with the cassegrain
has been corrected (except the residual sphericity of
course), and the star test is just very good, finally. You can see a photo of
the instrument here (the added part is well visible ;
the tube is now 110 cm long instead of 80 before) :
http://www.astrosurf.com/pellier/greg_cpe
The telescope has two
main characteristics for planetary imaging :
1) A very long focal
length at prime focus, in order to avoid using a barlow (this was also because the secondary would be
even easier to make). The final focal length is 7,9
meters (F/32). We had planned an F/28 only but it turned out to be longer
(this will have consequences for the choice of camera)
2) Central obstruction
has been downsized from 25 to 21 % only (actually the diameter of the new
secondary with its baffle is even slightly smaller than the central hole of the
primary).
I have been able to
make my first images last thursday,
though under average seeing conditions:
http://astrosurf.com/pellier/J110915-CPE
(the set features my
first CH4 images ever)
Now I'm just waiting
for good seeing !
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter through a small scope
Received:
Hi guys, Here is
another wide view of the Jovian system, this time taken on 14 Sep just after a
transit of Io which can be seen just to the right of the planet
Taken at the prime focus of a 4 inch F7 ED
refractor using a Canon 550D
Cheers
Jamie COOPER (
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter 15th Sept
Received:
Dear All
An image
from yesterday morning. Seeing fairly good,
had to wait for windows in the high cloud though.
Regards
Simon KIDD (Welwyn, Herts, the
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter
Received: Fri 16
Set 2011
Hi Guys here is a set
of LRGB from the 15th jup was up to 44 degrees,
seeing was fair and just on the borderline of sharpening as opposed to not
sharpening, as it was 30 mins earlier.
best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
Ham call G4PIE
¤·······Subject:
Mars 9/13, additional images
Received: Thu
Attached are my
individual L,R,G,B, and near-IR images of Mars
recorded under excellent conditions, September 13. Note the rift in the NPC.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/110913/SWk13Sept11.jpg
Sean WALKER (S&T)
¤·······Subject:
Re: Moon
Received:
Great picture Jamie.
It was a lovely sight wasn't it? Here are a some Moon shots from me, also take with a 4-inch refractor.
Moon
on the 12/13th:
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/lunar/2011-09-12_21-28-17.jpg
Moon
on the 13/14th:
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/lunar/2011-09-14_00-14-34-flat.jpg
This version took
advantage of some passing clouds to produce a blurred background effect:
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/lunar/IMG_7976-1024.jpg
Finally, here's a
quick animated version which blinks between the first two images to reveal
lunar libration:
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/lunar/Libration-8-bit-anim.gif
Best regards,
Pete LAWRENCE
(Selsey, the
¤·······Subject:
Moon
Received:
The Moon was beautiful
last night. Took this through the 4 inch refractor
cheers
Jamie
COOPER
(
¤······· Subject:
solar images
Received:
Hi guys fast moving
clouds made even 30 seconds imaging runs hard to get. There were a couple of
nice proms on show. I particularly liked 1120ut, the
ghostly figures rising from the solar surface it reminded me of Raiders of the
lost
Interesting
activity in the light bridge across spot 1289.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
Ham call G4PIE
¤·······Subject:
Mars images 20110906
Received:
Please see attachment.
Thanks.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/110906/JMl06Sept11.jpg
Jim MELKA (
¤·······Subject:
Mars 10 Sept
Received:
Hi, Very bad seeing & 25 degrees above;
PLS see you it. B.W
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/110910/SGh10Sept11.jpg
Sadegh GHOMIZADEH (
¤·······Subject:
Solar images
Received:
Hi Guys here are a few
images from the 1st, grabbed in cloud breaks on one of "those"
mornings.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
Ham call G4PIE
¤·······Subject:
solar images
Received: Thu
Hi Guys here are a
mess of Images from the 2nd a bit late due to Jupiter Imaging. Plenty of action including
a very faint large prom. One limb straddler
prom and plenty of sunspots. A full disc mosaic image captures all the
surface action.
Full disc image was a
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
Ham call G4PIE
¤·······Subject:
Mars - September 5th, 09:21ut
Received:
Hi Mr. Minami and Mr
Murakami, Here is my most recent session on Mars from 5th of august under ideal
conditions.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/110905/EMr05Sept11.jpg
Efrain
MORALES
(
¤·······Subject:
Re: Loop prominence images,
Received:
Nice work Pete, well
detailed.
Here is my full disk with the prominence in
action. Located at the
http://paulhaese.net/Mosaicsolardisk5September2011.html
regards
Paul HAESE (
¤·······Subject:
Loop prominence images,
Received:
Hi all, A
very active loop prominence was visible on the north-western limb today (5th
Sept). Conditions from my site were abysmal with strong buffeting winds and
squally showers bringing a halt to imaging on several occasions. Here are some
of the rapid captures managed during the infrequent clear gaps...
Best regards,
Pete LAWRENCE
(Selsey, the
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter
Received:
Hi Guys, We
had a spell of very good seeing on the 3rd, the trouble was Jup
only got up to 40 degrees altitude, before the clouds spoilt things. Oval BA is shown coming onto the disc.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
Ham call G4PIE
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter J110902
Received:
There seems no much variation at the bright
part in SEBZ preceding the GRS.
Best wishes
Tomio AKUTSU (
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter J110831
Received:
I attach several Jupiter
images taken on
Best Wishes
Tomio AKUTSU (
¤·······Subject:
Received:
Hi guys, Short and
sweet session interrupted by clouds, Seeing
shabby. low alt
38 degs.
best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
Ham call G4PIE
¤·······Subject: Jupiter
Received:
Dear All, An image
from earlier today. Conditions fairly good, cloud occasionally a problem
Regards
Simon KIDD (Welwyn, Herts, the
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter 1-Sept- 2011
Received:
Hi Guys
Here are a couple of
shots of Jupiter from the first of the month, with reasonable seeing at 44 deg
alt. Trutek
RGB filters Flea
3 + C14
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
¤·······Subject:
Mike MALASKA's paper
Received:
Dear Dr. Minami, As I
wrote in the LtE in Japanese last month, Mike Malaska's paper on the extremely long Arsia Mons cloud near
the dawn terminator observed on
http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/6/785
PDF version of this
report is also downloadable:
http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/6/mike_malaska_mars_cloud_analysis.pdf
The ESA/MEX/VMC blogger as well as the
scientists at ESOC and ESTEC gave words of high praise for MALASKA's
work. I'm afraid however, that something's wrong in the author's estimation of
the cloud's length as 142km. The distance between the central calderas of Arsia
Mons and Pavonis Mons measures almost just 800km. So
that the
cloud's
E-W length should have been well over 1000km (see the image attached). The
author used an Martian coordinate grid overlaid on the image and somehow
calculated the cloud's 15° longitudinal span as 142km. Mars has approximately
half the radius of Earth, so that its equatorial circumference is twenty thousand
kilometers or so. Thus 15° longitude near the Martian
equator covers 20000km/24…over 800km distance.
Anyway, I think, provided the cloud's
dimensions are corrected, MALASKA's discussions are
still valid almost in every respect. It's really worth reading.
I am also
attaching a montage of the MARCI images of the week；noon cloud activities
can be seen over Pavonis Mons area as well as Arsia
Mons.
Good Seeing with Excellent Scopes！
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤·······Subject:
Mars
Received:
Dear All, A bit of an
experiment this morning.....Mars was rather low in the murk at dawn, but
relatively bright in the scope. A full colour run was looking unrealistic (the
blue channel was a meaningless blob) so just used the IR filter and got the
electronic crayons out to give it a hint of colour.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/110902/SKd02Sept11.jpg
Regards
Simon KIDD (Welwyn, Herts, the
¤·······Subject:
Mars - August 31st, 09:46ut
Received:
Hi Mr. Minami and Mr.
Murakami, My latest session of Mars from August 31st, Clear Skies.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/110831/EMr31Aug11.jpg
Efrain
MORALES
(
¤·······Subject:
Re: Jupiter
Received:
Hi All, An image from
this morning, seeing sometimes fairly good. Was surprised to see detail on Ganymede.
The dark feature could
be 'Nicholson' but am not sure.
All the best
Simon KIDD (Welwyn, Herts, the
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter 31 Aug
Received: Thu
Hello Guys,
On 31 August the seeing was so faire in
Sadegh GHOMIZADEH (
¤·······Subject:
Solar images
Received:
Hi Guys, There were some
interesting proms and phenomena on the 29th
If you take a look at
the montage of 4 singles hot images, you will see a small flare starting up . Now take a look at the composite image of the same prom
timed 07:49ut before
the flare started, where the exposure has been optimised for both the surface
and the prominence. There is a "bulge" in the surface just before the
flare.
At
AR
11281 adds some interest to the prom imaged at 07:44ut, where the surface on
the limb is very active.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter 2011.08.30
Received:
Dears,
From this morning, images saved out of a
session starting with bad transparency due to high clouds of Jupiter at a top
60° elevation :
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/j20110830-MDe.jpg
The
GRS show
here some details, the reddish band passing North of
it and some other reddish material are totally invisible in methane, mixing
with the part of the SEB which is not dark. Sincerely,
Marc DELCROIX
(
¤·······Subject:
Jupiter
Received:
The word
"steamy" might not mean a whole lot to the average Eskimo, but, for
those of us who live down here in the Tropics, especially right on the coast,
it has special meaning. When you walk outside you hit a physical barrier which
is warm, thick and wet. At first there may be slight difficulty breathing.
Glasses have totally, and I mean completely, fogged up. Everything you touch
outside is wet.
Walking down my wooden back steps this
morning I could easily see my wet footprints on the steps. Did I mention
everything is wet? This morning it was Steamy outside. Internet says 80
degrees, feels like 90 with a humidity of 92%. Thick, hot and
wet. Steamy.
The good thing about steamy conditions is
that the seeing can be good, very good. It was near perfect this morning. Now,
my 200mm apo cannot defy physics and show detail
beyond it's theoretical ability but on a morning like
this the view is just amazing. When imaging I could increase the size of the
image on the screen to 200%, sit about 3 feet from the monitor and pick out
fine detail. I had to use a hair dryer multiple times, for the objective,
camera, and eyepieces to fight off the dew. I quit imaging about
best,
Jim PHILLIPS (
¤········Subject:
Prominence from
Received:
Hi Guys I managed to
grab just one prom this morning on the SW limb before the rain came.
AP 130 EDT plus 90mm
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell
Heath, Bucks, the
Ham call G4PIE
¤········Subject:
More current BAA Mars reports online
Received:
> Dear Observer
>
> For those
contributors who are not (yet?) members of the
> British
Astronomical Association I am writing to let you
> know that our BAA
Mars reports for 2005 (in 2 parts) were
> recently published (in the June and August BAA Journals) and
> may now be
downloaded as pdf files from our Section website
> at
> http://www.britastro.org/mars
> There will soon
be an article added to the site about
> observing the
current 2011-12 apparition; that article will
> appear in the
October BAA Journal.
> Another two
Section reports for 2007-08 will be published
> early next year, and the writing of those for 2009-10 are
> nearly finished, so that we have very nearly caught up with
> the arrears in publication.
> As ever I shall
be glad to have any feedback about our
> reports.?
> With sincere
regards,
> Richard McKIM
> Director, BAA
Mars Section
¤········Subject:
Solar images
Received:
Hi Guys here are a few
images from the 24th including a Single Stack 4 frame mosaic of Ar 11271 and its surroundings, a single frame DS shot, and
a prom with a straddling filament. Seeing was a bit off this day.
Good old Registax 6
with its 140 box multipoint alignment.
best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell Heath, Bucks, the
Ham call G4PIE
¤········Subject:
Solar Images 19th August
Received:
Hi Guys, Fair bit of
seeing on the 19th and also a fair bit of activity.
We have three images
of the two main active regions, one single stack and 2 double. The proms were
SS.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Flackwell Heath, Bucks, the
Ham call G4PIE
¤········Subject:
Jupiter
Received:
All,
An image
from Monday morning. Despite suffering two 5 second power cuts (annoying!)
everything held together to get a couple of runs under the fairly good
conditions.
This image shows, coincidentally,
roughly the same face as the one from the 15th, some interesting changes have
occurred.
All the best
Simon KIDD (Welwyn, Herts, the
¤········Subject:
Mars observations from SMk last 20th
Received:
Dear Masami san,
Here attached the
observations for Uranus and Mars the 20th Aug.
Uranus,
The few possible
features are fading more and more with time now. However some sketch reported
here.
Mars,
Happy to
collect the Sinus Meridiani in spite of the tiny disk. Chryse-Xanthe appears clear.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/110820/SMk20Aug11.jpg
For your
perusal. Faithfully
Stanislas
MAKSYMOWICZ (
¤········Subject:
Mars
Received:
Hi Mr. Minami and Mr.
Murakami, My latest session from august 20th, Clear Skies.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/110820/EMr20Aug11.jpg
Efrain
MORALES
(
¤········Subject:
Mars
Received:
Dear Masatsugu,
I sent this a couple of days back but it seems
there was a problem - so please excuse if you've already got it! I delayed as I had hoped for another this
a.m. but seeing had become quite awful by the time Mars was available.
I hope the format is suitable for your site
as, to my shame, I have not submitted anything to you
via e-mail previously but hope to rectify that in the coming months.
Best wishes you and all,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/110815/DGr15Aug11.jpg
David GRAY (
¤········Subject:
FW: Sad news
Received:
Dear Masatsugu,
I appreciated your kind message.
Well, we had the funeral on Friday; only
immediate family—my brother Bernie and his family, and Debb
and my two sons (Ben, my dad, was too frail to travel from
At the end of the service, which was lightly
Catholic (there was a priest to say a few prayers—Joyce would have liked
that—but no Mass) I read, or tried to read, a few lines from Auden which summed
up some of my feelings on the occasion.
“A cloudless night like this
Can set the spirit soaring:
After a tiring day
The clockwork spectacle is
Impressive in a slightly boring
Eighteenth-century way.
“It soothed adolescence a lot
To meet so shameless a stare;
The things I did could not
Be so shocking as
they said
If that would still be there
After the shocked were
dead.
“Now, unready to die
But already at the stage
When one starts to resent the young,
I am glad those points in the sky
May also be counted among
The creatures of middle –age.
“It’s cosier thinking of night
As more an Old People’s Home
Than a shed for a faultless machine,
That the red pre-Cambrian light
Is gone like Imperial
Or myself at seventeen.
“Yet however much we may like
The stoic manner in which
The classical authors wrote,
Only the young and the rich
Have the nerve or the figure to strike
The lacrimae
rerum note.
***”Looking up at the stars, I know quite
well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
“How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return.
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.”
Bill
SHEEHAN
(
¤········Subject:
Re: Tanabata
Received: Fri 19
Aug 0:27JST
Dear Masatsugu,
Just to let you know, my mom passed away on
Tuesday at
Best,
Bill
SHEEHAN
(