Solar＆Planetary LtE for CMO/ISMO #17 (CMO #391)
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¤······Subject:
Transit of Venus Project Newsletter #6
Received: Sat 19
Nov 2011 21:10 JST
Dear all,
This Saturday November
19 it's exactly 200 days until the last transit of Venus. The event is gaining
momentum now: it's being featured in journals of science education, in
astronomical calendars for 2012, and Sky & Telescope will kick off its
transit coverage in January. New publications are released, like the latest
book by Nick Lomb.
Transit of Venus: 1631 to the
Present
This month a new book
on the transit of Venus was published: Transit of Venus: 1631 to the Present.
Written by Nick Lomb, former curator of astronomy at Sydney Observatory. It's a
beautiful work, larded with large pictures and covering the entire history of
the transit of Venus, from the first prediction by Johannes Kepler up to our
own experiences in 2004. Nick also gives advice for observing the next transit
in 2012 and discusses the importance of this transit to modern astronomy. An
absolute must-read! For more information see http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/2011/transit-of-venus-the-book/
or our review of the
book at http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/2011/11/03/nick-lombs-new-book/
Transit of Venus workbook now in
print
On our education
resources page (http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/getting-involved/educational-resources/
), we list numerous resources that can be used by science teachers to engage
their students in observing the 2012 transit. One of these resources, the
Transit of Venus: Classroom activities, is now available in print. In forty
problems, students get acquainted with the mechanics and periodicity of the
transit, measuring distances using parallax and finding exoplanets analysing
light curves of other stars. Though the workbook remains available as free
download, we thought it beneficial for teachers if it also would possible to
obtain hardcopies. The workbooks are printed in black-and-white and have a
full-colour cover. To order, please go to Lulu.com:
https://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=11758287
Testing the phone app
The free phone app
that is being developed will soon be tested by a number of you. The phone app
is an instrumental tool in our effort to measure the sun's distance using the
observed times of start and/or end of the transit. Not only will it act as
stopwatch, allowing you to find the times at which the limbs of Venus and the
sun touch, it will also feature a simulation of the transit giving you the
opportunity to practise. Next month, the test panel will give feedback on how
the stopwatch and the simulation work. It's still possible to join the test
panel! It's a unique chance to get a preview of the app and to propose
improvements. For more information, take a look at http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/getting-involved/phone-app/
or contact me at s.vanroode@transitofvenus.nl
I invite you to follow
us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/tov2012
) or 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
¤······Subject:
Jovian GRS on 10 Nov and 12 Nov
Received: Sat 19
Nov 2011 20:32 JST
Hi All, Here is a gif
moving image of the GRS on 10 and 12 November: See the relative variation and
convection of the area of the GRS during the period:
Best Wishes
Tomio
AKUTSU
(Cebu, the
¤······Subject:
Solar images 15th Nov2011
Received: Sat 19
Nov 2011 08:45 JST
Hi guys
here are a couple of
images from the 15th. The sun is only 20deg alt at best from southern
The plasma clouds on
the coloured image are quite orderly compared the chaos around of the many
spots in the mono image.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
solar images 13 November 2011
Received: Fri 18
Nov 2011 07:50 JST
Hi guys here are a
couple of images from the rare sunny day of the 13th Nov. Plenty of action.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
pink spot
Received: Thu 17
Nov 2011 17:59 JST
Hi Christophe a good
observation, and a good reason to do more IR images. I have attached the LRGB
component set from the 15th for reference.
best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
Jupiter images 15th november 2011
Received: Thu 17
Nov 2011 13:53 JST
Hi,
here my Jupiter image
from november 15th, 2011 with 8"
Seeing was high-frequent
and cirrus clouds made trouble, too. But it was a night without fog, so I did
my best...
Cheers
Silvia KOWOLLIK (
¤······Subject:
Jupiter images 14th november 2011
Received: Thu 17
Nov 2011 07:29 JST
Hi all, again poor
seeing for these.
http://www.astrosurf.com/pellier/J2011_11_14-CPE
An interesting thing
though - Dave commented about the pink STB spot today. This spot was dark a few
months ago, and looks to follow a typical evolution of those cyclonic ovals.
But what looks interesting to me here as well is its brightness in near
infrared.
I find a striking
similarity between this aspect, and this evolution, and that of the SEB barge
of last year before the revival. It was as well slightly pink in RGB and bright
in IR. Although I don't expect the STB spot to start a revival ;) there's maybe
some lesson to learn ? How to explain the bright albedo in IR ?
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLER
(
¤······Subject:
Jupiter 15-Nov-2011
Received: Wed 16
Nov 2011 22:49 JST
Hi Guys we were lucky
to have a short spell of clear sky this early evening in some parts of the
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
Comparison between h-α and CaK views, Nov 15th
Received: Wed 16
Nov 2011 19:41 JST
Hi all,
A good spell of
November sunshine afforded me opportunity to capture the Sun on the 15th in both
hydrogen-alpha and calcium-K. Both images are 9-pane mosaics and of particular
note are the bright flare patches in AR11346 (lower left AR). From
recollection, it isn't that common to see h-alpha flare activity in the CaK
view: for example:
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/solar/2007/2007-06-09_Flare-grid.jpg
The activity corresponded with a GOES x-ray
peak.
Clouds rolled in
before I could get a decent high magnification shot of the region in CaK. I do
have a couple taken through clouds which I have yet to process though.
Best regards,
Pete
LAWRENCE
(Selsey, the
¤······Subject:
Uranus, 14th november 2011
Received: Wed 16
Nov 2011 04:18 JST
Hi all, here is an
image of Uranus taken last night. Seeing just fair enough to get an oval shape
but no detail is caught. According to the PVOL data, the spot is just at the
bottom left limb ;)
http://www.astrosurf.com/pellier/U2011_11_14_21H49_RG610_CPE
Image taken with the
Baader RG610 during 15 mn with exposures of 200 ms. 3400 raw frames stacked
over 4500.
Will try again. Maybe
next time I'll use my RG630 to get more contrast.
Regards
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤······Subject:
Re: RE: [marsobservers] Re: Mars 11/2, excellent seeing
Received: Tue 15
Nov 2011 17:28 JST
To:
marsobservers@yahoogroups.com
Cc：
vzv03210<
Hi Gary,
Once again, many
thanks for all of the supplementary scientific information!
I have reviewed more
images from the 2010 apparition, and also MGS maps made by Helen Wang on her
homepage at later Ls seasons. It looks to me now that the clear yellow line is
very steady during time so I would now more agree with Sean and Roger when they
say that this is merely a brighter albedo region.
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
Message
du : 11/11/2011 09:02
De
: "Gary Rosenbaum " <garyr90@comcast.net>
A
: marsobservers@yahoogroups.com
Sujet
: RE: [marsobservers] Re: Mars 11/2, excellent seeing
Hi Roger, Christophe,
Jim et.al.
If your primary
interest in Mars is strictly in observing or imaging the
planet you may wish to
skip this message as I admittedly am straying from
that path.
I think you will find
the answer to your questions about Sean’s excellent
image in the MARCI
weather map.
http://www.msss.com/msss_images/latest_weather.html
I am not seeing a
clear indication of dust activity in the area in question
in the November 2nd
images. The MARCI images show an orographic water ice
cloud over Alba
Patera, a gravity wave induced water ice cloud over the
Mareotis Fossae and
Tempe Fossae areas (low elevation cloud) and more water
ice clouds crossing
into Acidalia.
The elevation of the
water ice condensation layer in the atmosphere varies
depending on the
atmospheric temperature. Water ice clouds should not be
considered only as
high elevation clouds. When discussing the equatorial
cloud belt one needs
to think in terms of the global atmospheric circulation
pattern. The
equatorial cloud belt is a result of the upwelling branch of
the Hadley cell
circulation. Since the equatorial region is always warmer
than the polar region
the air has to rise to high elevations before water
vapor will condense.
The Tharsis bulge may have relatively little effect on
the high elevation
water ice clouds within in the equatorial cloud band but
for the surface winds
within the lowest scale height, up to ~10 km, the
Tharsis bulge has a
very significant effect on atmospheric circulation and
the regional weather
patterns. In polar regions where the atmospheric
temperatures are much
colder the condensation layer occurs at lower
elevations. Alba
Patera is a very massive but low elevation volcano located
at high northern
latitude and its water ice orographic clouds often form at
an elevation of ~6 km
as opposed to the ~12-20 km orographic clouds that
form over the taller
Tharsis volcanos further south. The main difference is
in the warmer
atmospheric temperatures at the lower latitude of the Tharsis
volcanos as compared
to the colder temps at the latitude of Alba which is
close to the region of
polar circulation.
Roger is correct that
there is an inverse relation between dust activity and
water ice activity in
a global sense. When one peaks the other is near
minimum activity. On a
regional or local scale you will often find both
types of activity
occurring at the same time in different areas of the
planet. However, some
types of weather patterns show a clear association
between dust and water
ice clouds. Many of these events may be too small to
be visible in ground
based images. For a recent example of what appears to
be an association see
the MARCI map for October 24 and 25, 2011, western
side of Acidalia at
the polar cap boundary. Several of the recent MARCI maps
show dust flows
protruding onto the north polar cap or flowing across the
cap. The larger flows
may be visible in amateur images as a notch in the cap
or even a division of
the cap.
I'm not sure I
understand why the blue clearing was invoked as an
explanation regarding
Sean's image but admittedly my understanding of the
phenomena may be
lacking. It’s a rare day when you see it even mentioned in
the papers. About all
I know is that when a blue clearing occurs dark albedo
surface features are
seen to varying degrees in blue light.
I sometimes lament
those days seemingly long gone when we relied on the ALPO
doctrine for
identifying dust storms; bright in red, obscures previously
seen surface features
and moves in position over time. By definition,
identification would
usually require at least two days of observations to
satisfy the
requirement of movement.
From:
marsobservers@yahoogroups.com [mailto:marsobservers@yahoogroups.com]
On
Behalf Of Roger Venable
Sent:
Thursday, November 10, 2011 7:18 AM
To:
marsobservers@yahoogroups.com
Subject:
Re: [marsobservers] Re: Mars 11/2, excellent seeing
Christophe --
Thanks for this info.
I can see that you have
spent considerable
time studying it, and I am
glad that you are
sharing your ideas with this group.
I agree with all the
general comments that you make about dust.
However, I'm not sure
I'm in full agreement
regarding
interpretations of MGS images and in
our interpretations of
some of the best
Earth-based images
such as those by Damian. I
note, for example,
that the equatorial cloud band
usually goes right
over Arsia Mons without paying
any attention to the Tharsis
bulge. This suggests
to me that the model
that indicates that the
Tharsis bulge affects
regional air mass movements
is overstated. (Not
wrong... just overstated.)
Also, I note that the
folks at Malin Space
Science Systems did
not report any difficulty in
differentiating dust
from clouds, and the very
reference you make,
showing the circumpolar cloud
bands, clearly
differentiates the circumpolar
dust storms from the
circumpolar clouds.
I know your thoughts
about blue clearing, so I
don't want to dwell on
that too much in this thread.
To me, this is very
interesting stuff. I am sure
that I have a lot more
to learn about it.
However, in this forum
we need to be sure that
our conversation is
relevant to observing Mars,
and not specifically
about spacecraft
observations and
atmospheric theory except
insofar as they are
relevant to our observations.
I say this only to
offer to take this discussion
out of the group, if
you like. The moderators may
want to chime in on
this (Who knows -- maybe
they'll want us to
continue it here!)
Best regards,
Roger
¤······Subject:
Full h-alpha disk, November 12, 2011
Received: Mon 14
Nov 2011 19:07 JST
Hi all,
Lots of solar
captures, no time to process them and send them out unfortunately. However, the
appearance of the Sun over the weekend warranted making an extra effort. A
massive prominence visible in the south east and an incredibly long wrapping
'filaprom' were just two of the amazing sights on offer.
Best regards,
Pete
LAWRENCE
(Selsey, the
¤······Subject:
call for observation...
Received: Mon 14
Nov 2011 13:40 JST
Hi all, On Nov. 29,
Jupiter will occult the 8.7 mag Star (K2) SAO 92734. Observers with telescopes
larger then 8" may be able to capture the star on its reappearance around
18:30 UT +/- 20 minutes with methaneband filter.
I will try
it with DMK 31AF03.AS, CH4 filter and exposertimes around 1,5sec with the 80 cm
Cassegrain at Observatory Zollern-Alb in
I am
interested in Observations from other Observers.
Cheers
Silvia KOWOLLIK (
¤······Subject:
Jupiter and Galilean satellites 2011.11.08
Received: Mon 14
Nov 2011 06:30 JST
Dears,
I could observe that
night in a temporary rest from the windy or cloudy weather here since weeks.
Seeing was good but transparency bad (too humid, the 2nd RGB set was almost
half bright as the 1st one) :
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/j20111108-MDe.jpg
Please note the
smaller spots circulating North of GRS. Best images are the 1st RGB and the
first red layer - not the green one, sign that the seeing could have been
better.
Some details could be
made out on the satellites themselves (the elongated shape might be a sign of
my collimation off a bit?):
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/j20111108b-MDe.jpg
Last, a montage of 3
movies for the satellites in white light and one RGB for Jupiter, showing a
nice family picture:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/j20111108-sat-MDe_large.jpg
Sincerely,
Marc
DELCROIX (
¤······Subject:
Jupiter on 12th november with test of WinJupos "planetary
derotation"
Received: Sun 13
Nov 2011 23:33 JST
Hi all,
As Damian I tried to
make opportunity of a rare clear night to image Jupiter and Uranus. Seeing was
very poor and Uranus images showed nothing.
Jupiter was caught in
2x2 binning.
http://www.astrosurf.com/pellier/J2011_11_12-CPE
In these hard
conditions I made my first real tests of the new WinJupos function
"correction of planetary rotation". My first essay on an old 1 mn avi
file was not conclusive. However, with longers avi files of several minutes,
last night's attempts looked successful despite the seeing. I made a 4 mn IR800
image, which looks better than the first minute without derotation, and a 10 mn
CH4 image that also looks better than its first two minutes with no derotation
(the SNR is especially good, there are 1200 frames instead of 240 as usual !).
It would deserve more
testing under steady sky...
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
PS I have changed the
file format of the images to follow John's advices.
¤······Subject:
Jupiter Blink animation
Received: Sat 12
Nov 2011 23:03 JST
Hi guys you can tell I
have cloudy skies, but at least it gives time for reflection of a different
sort !
I found another pair
if images, this time 5 days apart, with a common "pictorially static"
feature and a couple of "entangled" features a long way apart.
The material following
the GRS has bunched up behind it.
Strange behaviour by Jove.
best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
Jupiter 9-10 November
Received: Sat 12
Nov 2011 07:32 JST
Hi Guys We had a
couple of clear night round the full moon, seeing was poor but interesting
never the less .
I hope the two frame
GIF runs ok for you, it did when I test-sent it to myself it was actually running in the email as it
does in windows media player. The two frames are about the same longitude for
the SPR storm at the bottom of the image, but 24 days apart. It's fascinating
to watch the changes in longitude of various features. Note how the blue swirl
with white core keeps pace with the Barge yet other features like the storms
near BA behave quite differently. It
takes a few oscillations before you get the rhythm man. Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
Mars 2011 Nov. 7 0510 & 0650.
Received: Fri 11
Nov 2011 20:46 JST
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111107/DGr07Nov11.jpg
With regards.
David GRAY (
¤······Subject:
uranus last 9th from SMk
Received: Fri 11
Nov 2011 20:12 JST
Good morning sir,
May I
transmit you an update of the last 9th observation in which during I could
perform a second capture 2H30 after in order to catch the clear patch.
Here is an update of
the same day observation of Uranus when the clear patch was setting at the
planet edge (2H30 after the first sketch).
May have a look on the
notes mentioned on the sketch.
I was surprised to see
a clear patch greater than of the patch captured 8 days before (on the 1st).
But the Gemini staff
reported recently that the spot is growing in size and clearly.
The spot patch should
be accessible to regular observers, I think.
Spot is growing but EZ
is almost faded in parallel.
For your perusal.
Faithfully
Stanislas MAKSYMOWICZ (
¤······Subject:
Jupiter J111110 Around
GRS
Received: Fri 11
Nov 2011 13:34 JST
Jupiter J111110
Here you will
especially note the area of hi-res GRS: There are several white small spots
which gather around the GRS.
Tomio AKUTSU (Cebu, the
¤······Subject:
Re: On EPSC-DPS
Received: Fri 11
Nov 2011 07:24 JST
Dear
Masatsugu,
Please find attached
again the essay, with the information you requested in the first paragraph.
Yes this is Marc on
the photo in front of his Saturn poster. The photo has been taken by
Jean-Pierre Prost (Jean-Pierre is one the very best french planetary imagers -
it looks like the ISMO never received Mars images from him, when the next
season start I will tell him about us !). All other photos have been taken by
John, unless he appears himself on them.
We have been informed
a few days ago on the HST Jupiter list about the passing of Don's wife... this
is a very sad news; she was quite young... this disease is really terrible. My
mother had the same more than ten years ago now but it has been discovered
quite early and she's still well today.
I will answer about the
recent Mars discussion later; what about writing a note again about this? I had
noted this strange aspect before, but did not make any enlarged research until
these past days. Did we publish something in ISMO or CMO in 2007 already?
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤······Subject:
Mars 2011 Nov 6
Received: Fri 11
Nov 2011 00:32 JST
Dear colleagues,
I hereby contribute my
first Mars image for this season. It was obtained with an old scope of mine
recently equipped with a new secondary.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111106/JWr06Nov11.jpg
Best regards,
Johan
WARELL
(
¤······Subject:
Solar image 9-Nov-2011
Received: Thu 10
Nov 2011 08:41 JST
Hi Guys We had a late
clearing today, even though the sun was only 12 degrees high in the sky, seeing
was quite acceptable. I had a visual first and spotted this awesome river of
flares. I was able to grab a 4 frame mosaic before the sun went behind a shrub
and long grass.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
Re: [marsobservers] Re: Mars 11/2, excellent seeing
Received: Wed 9
Nov 2011 18:46 JST
To:
marsobservers@yahoogroups.com
Cc:
Masatsugu MINAMI<
Hi Roger,
Yes these are clever
objections. Here are some elements I would bring to discuss them:
1) Warming and dust.
The warming of the
atmosphere is indeed a key in the development of big storms, by the
"feed-back" mechanism: more dust = warmer temperatures = stronger
winds = more dust. However, I don't think that temperature is a relevant cause
for small, local dust clouds. Local winds do lift dust from the surface so we
don't need more explanation for this (moreover, at first place, I think that
this is the dust that causes the warming, and not the warming, that causes the
dust). At the boundary of the polar circulation, there are a lot of small dust
clouds.
2) Obscuration
A very important
point. But, if the dust cloud is small and if it circulates over a surface free
from dark markings, there is no possible obscuration... this is the case here.
3) Movement. In this case, we don't see any movement in latitude.
But, nothing proves that there is no movement in longitude either, and this is
my theory.
4) For the correspondence
of the paths of dust and winds: on Mars, the topography plays a strong role,
and in the case here, the curious line is found due north of the Tharsis bulge.
From everything I have seen from high-res probe images or scientific theories
(as well as amateur images), the circulation here is confined in a pure
west-east direction because of this topography.
There are more
elements to be found in the "cross-equatorial storms" model, that
shows that polar winds are going to be able to go southward only after they
have passed the Tharsis bulge, when they arrive above the lowland of Acidalia.
If you remember my conference at the IWCMO meeting in 2009 :
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmomn5/2009Paris_Meudon_Talks_CPl.htm
where there was this
model map :
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmomn5/2009Paris_Meudon_Talks_CPl.files/image007.jpg
Here are MGS blue
images taken near equinox in 2002, showing long strips of white clouds moving
at the boundary of the polar circulation (surely at the polar jetstream) :
http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/weather_reports/23_29APR_02/2002_04_23_29_60perc.jpg
Damian's images from
december 7th, 2007, showing identical white strip and the curious
"dusty" line:
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2007/071207/DPc07Dec07.jpg
(there are many more
from the same days from various observers)
Finally, talking about
"dust cloud" is maybe too exaggerated here. I would say this is just
a lifting of dust carried out by a polar jetstream that is mainly "made
of" white clouds....
Regards,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
Le
09/11/2011 04:53, Roger Venable a écrit:
Christophe, Jim, and
Sean --
I find this all a bit
confusing. There are objections to every way of
looking at it.
Sean's image reminds
me of John Hood's images of Elysium taken on Oct
25 and Oct 26, 2011.
The interesting features -- Elysium in John's
image and an E-W band
in Sean's image -- are brightest in red, less
bright in green, and
faintly visible in blue. This is the way that
dust is supposed to
look, except that dust is often completely
invisible in blue. (Of
course, two of the cardinal features of dust
are (1) that it is an
obscuration of darker features, and (2) that
this obscuration
moves. Neither John's nor Sean's image clearly shows
these two
characteristics of dust.)
I'd be more satisfied
that these were dust if they were invisible in blue.
As for the possibility
of mixed cloud and dust, is this not
problematic? Dust
results in rapid warming of the atmosphere by
absorption of
insolation. Clouds occur in cool areas of the
atmosphere where
crystals form out of supersaturated air. The
presence of dust
should make clouds unlikely in the same province.
Also, it is hard to
imagine how dust's location and movement would
correspond so closely
to that of cloud. Dust is mostly in the "mixing
layer" of the
atmosphere, which is the lowest 10,000 feet. In
contrast, water vapor
clouds are much higher in the atmosphere. Wind
directions at low
elevations are often very different from wind
directions at high
elevations. For example, Earth's jet streams'
directions often have
little resemblance to the directions of the
surface winds directly
under them. And, a low pressure area at low
elevations corresponds
to a high pressure area at high elevations,
and these two have
nearly opposite wind directions.
So, I am puzzled by
the images. And I do not have confidence in the
explanations that I've
seen. But maybe we'll figure this out.
-- Roger VENABLE (ALPO)
¤······Subject:
mars 5 nov
Received: Wed 9
Nov 2011 08:15 JST
Hi, Under an average
condition, I took one image. PLS see it.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111105/SGh05Nov11.jpg
B.W
Sadegh GHOMIZADEH (
¤······Subject:
Retroreflectors on Mars
Received: Tue 8
Nov 2011 23:51 JST
Dear all areoholics, Attached is the same
montage as shown in my LtE in Japanese in the CMO Japanese version #389 (Web
only) entitled“Nix
Olympica; what shines is her bare skin? her makeup? or her thin clothing?”…That was a simulation
to test how a huge Martian volcanic plateau covered with retroreflective
material looks at 
opposition.
A patch of retroreflective sheet (for bicycle reflector) was stuck on my Mars
globe just to cover the Olympus Mons. Then the globe was lit with a colimated
light and was photographed at full-Mars lighting conditions (ι=0°). You
can see ”Nix Olympica” shining from morning, through noon, till evening,
irrespective of the changing tilt of “Olympus Mons” toward us/the Earth.
In response to Dr.
Masatsugu MINAMI's request I am also attaching here the montage with the simulation
images taken at a 
larger
phase angle condition (ι=12°). You'll no longer find “Nix Olympica” anywhere
on the Mars globe.
I agree with Dr. MINAMI that the prominent
antisolar brightening of Olympus Mons is a kind of “Opposition Effect”. In
explaining opposition effect“shadow hiding”generally comes first. When looking
at a rough surface in a direction directly away from the sun, shadows are
hidden by the objects (casting the shadows) themselves. The antisolar region
looks brighter because it contains less shadow and more sunlit surfaces than the
surrounding area.
As seen from the Earth at opposition, however,
Mars’ apparent size will be only 25 arc seconds or so at most, so small area (practically
an “antisolar point”) that we'll see whole the Martian disk shining glaringly
by the shadow hiding effect. On that dazzling full-Mars, Olympus Mons stands
out brilliantly to be Nix Olympica; this means we need different mechanisms
than shadow hiding to explain the special antisolar brightening of the huge volcano.
“A Retroreflector on Mars Model” seems to be
the most simple and effective solution for the various characteristics of the
Nix Olympica Phenomenon; observable only in a short limited period centered
around the opposition day, shining throughout the daytime wherever located on
Martian disk with the gigantic plateau's varying angle viewed from the Earth,
the brightness weakens significantly even under the least amount of misty
covering matter,…etc, etc.
Dr. Masatsugu MINAMI has often suggested in
the CMO issues that some special volcanic materials forming the flank of
Olympus Mons might cause the prominent antisolar brightening at opposition.
This may be called “Shining Bare Skin Hypothesis”.
Some other highest Martian volcanoes also show
remarkable brightening near zero phase angle frequently simultaneously with
Olympus Mons; Montes Olympus, Ascraeus, Arsia, Pavonis and Elysium are ranked
as the top five in order in the list of mountains on Mars by height, each one
has shown considerable surge in brightness at certain opposition periods. Their
extremely high elevations, I think, may contribute to the selective
sedimentation of appropriately finer airborne dust particles thrown up in
recent storms to produce stronger coherent backscatter by which highly
efficient retroreflection can occur. This “Shining Makeup Hypotesis” may be
indirectly testified by observing polarization properties of the Nix Olympica
Phenomenon. Or the Martian dust samples brought back by the future manned
landing missions may directly prove it.
Good Seeing with Excellent Scopes!
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤······Subject:
Re: Sunspot 1339 11:15 UT Nov 7th sketch
Received: Tue 8
Nov 2011 17:28 JST
Hi Masatsugu
Thanks for including
my solar sketch on your website :-)
Deirdre
KELLEGHAN
(Vice Chair
National
Coordinator for Astronomers Without Borders
National
Rep The European Association for Astronomy Education
http://twitter.com/skysketcher
Pre
Order Our Book on Lunar Sketching:
http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy%2C+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-0940-3
¤······Subject:
Sunspot 1339 11:15 UT Nov 7th sketch
Received: Tue 8
Nov 2011 00:53 JST
Very large amount of
spots on the solar disc today. Serious looking AR / Prom / Filament drama on
the SE limb would have loved time to catch it in pastel.
Had just a little time
slot to sketch the big one in pencil.
Attached Sunspot 1339
sketch
November
7th, 11:15 UT
200
mm dob FL 1,200 mm
14
mm Tele Vue Radion eyepiece 85×
Baddar
Astro Solar Filter
Seeing
-
Best
Deirdre KELLEGHAN (Vice
Chair
¤······Subject:
Re: [marsobservers] Re: Mars 11/2, excellent seeing
Received: Mon 7
Nov 2011 22:35 JST
To:
marsobservers@yahoogroups.com
Cc： Masatsugu
MINAMI<
Hi Jim,
Although I agree with
you that it looks like dust, there is something curious about this - the same
detail was visible during several days in early december of 2007 (check any
image gallery, images from the "
I would go for a mixed
atmospheric phenomena (dust+water vapor) trailed by the springtime polar
jetstream, in a geographical corridor closed at south by Tharsis relief...
Regards,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
Le
06/11/2011 06:29, jtmelka a écrit :
Hi Sean,
You really had some
seeing! Yes, I don't know what else would cause that long bright streak other
than dust. The blue probably indicates that there is water vapor mixed in with
the dust. And that might be expected since the seasonal NPC is subliming water>ice
to vapor now and high winds can occur in those regions. Things look clear to
the South and Solis Lacus is dark as coal! These images deserve a lot of study.
Keep em comin. Thanks.
Jim MELKA
¤······Subject:
Full disk from today
Received: Mon 7
Nov 2011 07:06 JST
Sun’s full disk with
the usual setup
http://astrosurf.com/pcasquinha/sun111106.jpg
color
http://astrosurf.com/pcasquinha/sun111106_c.jpg
Regards
Paulo
CASQUINHA
(
¤······Subject:
mars 4 nov
Received: Sat 5
Nov 2011 00:04 JST
Hi, After big
RAINSQUALL on 4 November, condition was average so that I took one image of
Mars. PLS see it.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111104/SGh04Nov11.jpg
Ciao
Sadegh GHOMIZADEH (
¤······Subject:
Mars 11/2/2011
Received: Fri 4
Nov 2011 22:00 JST
Very good seeing
conditions on the morning of 11/2 allowed use of very long imaging focal
length. Note the cloud band along the northern hemisphere (+45°N), visible in
each color channel; perhaps a bit of dust kicked up from the subliminating NPC.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111102/SWk02Nov11.jpg
Clear skies,
Sean WALKER (Imaging
Editor,
¤······Subject:
Fw: active proms galore
Received: Fri 4
Nov 2011 09:33 JST
Hi Guys there was a
lot of active proms around this limb on the 1-Nov.
I see on Spaceweather
one preceded a very large spot that I have yet to witness.
Best Wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
Jupiter 2011-10-27 (evening) with 8"
Received: Thu 3
Nov 2011 12:57 JST
Hi all,
here my Jupiter image
with 8"
Cheers
Silvia KOWOLLIK (
¤······Subject:
Jupiter 1-Nov-2011
Received: Wed 2
Nov 2011 23:12 JST
Hi Guys a clear sky at
last, for a short while anyway . Pity about the seeing but good to get out in
it.
Interesting activity
on the northern edge of the GRS.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
Uranus spot last 1st Nov.
Received: Wed 2
Nov 2011 15:36 JST
> Dear sir,
> Just performing
back some observations about Uranus with the 305mm last
> evening.
> I presume a clear
patch had been collected with the similar expected
> location, this
could be the spot trace.
> However this
can't be verified after some times (1H after, 2H, etc...)
> deep
> moisture and bad
seeing was occurring severely at the end.
> The brightness is
on a level above the EZ fillet, however the EZ fillet is
> easier to catch
due to its size.
> This needs good
images that were for a short time fortunately.
> The sketches
given shows highly amplified contrasts level indeed but the
> grey tones shown
expect to reproduce an actuality.
> For your perusal.
Stanislas MAKSYMOWICZ (
¤······Subject:
Mars last 1st Nov. and Uranus Neptune on 31st Oct.
Received: Tue 1
Nov 2011 20:18 JST
> Good morning,
> Please find my
last observations about:
> Uranus:
> performed with
pretty images with the 305mm cassegrain and 500x.
> Not the spot
reported but still albedo variations especially in south
> hemisphere.
> Nevertheless this
clear patch at the edge on the planet, a clear fillet 2
> hours later.
> For your perusal
>
> performed with
pretty images with the 305mm cassegrain and 500x.
> Still the clear
cap as shown and albedo difference between hemispheres.
> Mars:
> performed with
the 305mm cassegrain and 340x.
> Chryse Xanthe
Tharsis Thitonius Tempe area with attenuated contrast levels
> both with the
yellow and the light blue filters.
> North cap is well
defined and bordered from Ismenius to Mare Boreum.
> Argyre appears at
the first look whitish.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111101/SMk01Nov11.jpg
> All for your
perusal.
> Weather now still
cloudy rainy sky well closed.
> Hope to catch a
period for uranus with the MC value of 300degrees.
> Faithfully
Stanislas MAKSYMOWICZ (
¤······Subject:
Jupiter 2011-11-01
Received: Tue 1
Nov 2011 15:12 JST
Hi all, here my Jupiter images
under average conditions.
Please note the small
dark spot following the GRS: it looks like the shadow of a moon, but Guide8
shows no moon at that position...
Cheers
Silvia
KOWOLLIK
(
¤······Subject:
Re: Uranus 2011.10.30
Received: Mon 31
Oct 2011 23:18 JST
Marc -
Nice try Marc! No matter what, Uranus proves
to be one of the most difficult object to image. Keep trying especially working
around methane light!
I am involved in photoelectric photometry.
I would like to see if I can pick up some variations in the near-infrared (NIR)
light where methane absorbs the most. I think it is possible if there is enough
contrast. The peak spectral response that I will be working on is at 800nm.
In fact, I did some NIR photometry on
Oct. 31, 2011 at 3:00 UT and the spot wasn't out. But I want to get the base
photometric readings without the spot on the disk. So I can compare that with
the spot on the disk to see if there is any difference in readings.
Also, Uranus is near to a sixth magnitude
star. I imaged it with a methane filter at 890nm by using the 200mm telephoto
lens. The sixth magnitude star is visible as a reference in methane light but
not Uranus. Next night, I will try to image again with a spot on the disk. If
there is enough contrast, Uranus should be visible faintly.
Let’s see what will happen! More
later...
Frank J MELILLO (
¤······Subject:
Uranus 2011.10.30
Received: Mon 31
Oct 2011 21:56 JST
Dears,
Uranus under good
seeing but with a very short session interrupted by clouds (one single
red+infrared movie with only ~500 images):
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20111030-MDe.jpg
The spot observed by
Gemini is not seen (it should be on the bottom edge, and the more processed
image shows too many artifacts). The "soft" image alone:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/uranus_20111030_rir-MDe.jpg
Sincerely,
Marc DELCROIX
(
¤······Subject:
Jupiter J111023.J111024.J111028.J111030
Received: Mon 31
Oct 2011 12:51 JST
The planet Jupiter is now
at opposition (more exactly at 02 h on 29 Oct).
Tomio
AKUTSU
(Cebu, the
¤······Subject:
Full disk from today
Received: Sun 30
Oct 2011 08:17 JST
Full disk with PST and
Skynyx 2.0M
http://astrosurf.com/pcasquinha/sun111029.jpg
color version
http://astrosurf.com/pcasquinha/sun111029_c.jpg
Regards
Paulo
CASQUINHA
(
¤······Subject:
Solar Images 28-Oct-2011
Received: Sat 29
Oct 2011 06:39 JST
Hi Guys
Here's a first for me,
solar images on the day of imaging! Ar 11330 spot and surroundings was
spectacular, with its mate Ar 11333.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
Jupiter le 25 octobre 2011
Received: Fri 28
Oct 2011 05:45 JST
Dears,
Under average
conditions, with GRS setting and BA rising (well visible
on methane image) :
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/j20111025-MDe.jpg
A montage with from
left to right Ganymede, Europa, Jupiter and Io:
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/jupiter_20111025_sat_small.jpg
Sincerely,
Marc DELCROIX
(
¤······Subject:
the sun 20-Oct-2011
Received: Thu 27
Oct 2011 18:58 JST
Hi Guys Here is an
image of AR 1324 & 25 . Quite a busy part of the sun.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
jupiter 22 oct
Received: Mon 24
Oct 2011 07:33 JST
Hi Guys
On 22 I had good seeing; you know in
Anyway I took some images:
PLS see one of them. Ciao
Sadegh
GHOMIZADEH (
¤······ Subject:
Re: May I ask a favour of you?
Received: Mon 24
Oct 2011 01:51 JST
Dear Masatsugu,
No problem,
I can write a review about the EPSC meeting, indeed, it will be worth talking
about it; although I have mostly followed information about the gas giants, not
Mars (too little free time).
I'm sorry I
have not sent any Mars images yet this season, but due to the unfavourable
orientation of my current location, I
can not see it before it reach south meridian at or before sunrise, and this is
currently not the case... fortunately Jean-Jacques is producing fine images for
Europe!
Best wishes,
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤······Subject:
solar images 15-Oct-2011
Received: Mon 24
Oct 2011 00:11 JST
Hi Guys here is a
couple from the 15th.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
solar images 14-Oct-2011
Received: Sun 23
Oct 2011 21:52 JST
Hi Guys plenty of
solar active regions, shown were with
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
Mars Ak22Oct11
Received: Sun 23
Oct 2011 13:12 JST
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111022/Ak22Oct11.jpg
These are set of the Mars
images from this morning. It seems that there is a long (dust?) cloud to the
south of the npc, and furthermore the npc shows a dust disturbance inside.
Tomio
AKUTSU
(Cebu, the
¤······Subject:
mars 22 oct
Received: Sun 23
Oct 2011 12:52 JST
Hi
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111022/SGh22Oct11.jpg
On 22 October seeing
in
B.W
Sadegh GHOMIZADEH (
¤······Subject:
Jupiter 20-Oct-2011
Received: Sat 22
Oct 2011 23:56 JST
Hi Guys I was lucky
with a 90 minute clear slot and good seeing at 47deg alt. The small white spot
following the GRS was very bright , reminding me of a solar Ellerman Bomb. The
GRS is sporting a couple of very large "crop circles".
Ganymede was imaged at
23:06ut and processed separately. It was placed with the aid of Jupos graphics.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks,
the
¤······Subject:
Jupiter images, 21 october 2011
Received: Sat 22
Oct 2011 21:47 JST
Hi all,
Weird seeing yesterday
morning but the multispectral images in 2× binning went well.
http://www.astrosurf.com/pellier/J111021-CPE
I have tried a few
false-color data with the non-visible wavelengths. Also the comparison between
B and UV is interesting.
Have a nice week-end
everyone!
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤······Subject:
Re: Mars 2011/10/21
Received: Fri 21
Oct 2011 17:11 JST
Very nice
Jean-Jacques, it seems that you have caught the Tharsis orographic clouds!
Tous vos emails en 1
clic avec l'application SFR Mail sur iPhone et Android - En savoir plus.
Christophe
PELLIER
(
¤······Subject:
Mars 2011/10/21
Received: Fri 21
Oct 2011 17:06 JST
Hello, Here is Mars on 2011/10/21
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111021/JPp21Oct11.jpg
The seeing was average. T = -1°C
Regards
Jean-Jacques
POUPEAU
(
¤······Subject:
Jupiter J111016, J111017, J111020
Received: Fri 21
Oct 2011 13:15 JST
Hi All, It seems the
BA has not been bright these days.
Tomio
AKUTSU
(Cebu, the
¤······Subject:
Mars of this morning
Received: Fri 21
Oct 2011 2:07 JST
> Dear sir,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111020/SMk20Oct11.jpg
> Here is my
contribution about Mars observed this morning with the MC150mm
> before going to
office.
> North cap well
whitish and brilliant
> Elysium rising
> Zephyria seems
hazzy in yellow-green
> South polar area
seems hazzy both colors.
> Difficult to say
more.
> For your perusal.
> Faithfully
Stanislas MAKSYMOWICZ (
¤······Subject:
Mars Ak15Oct11
Received: Wed 19
Oct 2011 16:14 JST
MINAMI-sama,
These days the weather has been fine (the first time ever since I came here),
and I have got a set of Mars Images the other day. (Unfortunately however I am
suffering from the high-blood-pressure.)
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111015/Ak15Oct11.jpg
Tomio
AKUTSU
(Cebu, the
¤······Subject:
Mars 2011/10/17
Received: Mon 17
Oct 2011 19:16 JST
Hello, Here is Mars on
2011/10/17
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111017/JPp17Oct11.jpg
Regards
Jean-Jacques
POUPEAU
(
¤······Subject:
Mars 2011/10/16
Received: Sun 16
Oct 2011 18:09 JST
Hello, Here is Mars on
2011/10/16
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111016/JPp16Oct11.jpg
Regards
Jean-Jacques
POUPEAU
(
¤······Subject:
mars 13 oct.
Received: Sun 16
Oct 2011 08:43 JST
Hi, Under average
condition I took one image. PLS see them.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111013/SGh13Oct11.jpg
B.W
Sadegh GHOMIZADEH (
¤······Subject:
Mars observations last 15th
Received: Sat 15
Oct 2011 17:11 JST
> Dear sir,
>
> I have
re-installed the cassegrain of 305mm and used it this last night on
> Uranus and Mars.
> Here are the
reports communicated to the CMO/ Mars section.
>
> Uranus:
> EZ is obvious and
still faint but thin
> some albedo
variations on the hemispheres.
>
> Mars:
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/111015/SMk15Oct11.jpg
> The north cap is
bright, well visible and darkly bordered as shown.
> Chaos is not
clear and whitish
>
> Amazonis Olympica
appears clear in bluish color
> Eridania appears
bright at the first look.
> Generally the
limb of Mars appears hazy (all colors) and Syrtis Major
> area
> remains on
attenuated contrast level (all colors, rather in blue-green).
> Generally
speaking images were rather good sometimes to average mainly.
> For your perusal.
Stanislas MAKSYMOWICZ (
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