Solar &
Planetary LtE Now for CMO/ISMO #64 (CMO #438)
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¤••••Subject: Uranus
& satellites 2015.08.26
Received:
Dears,
After
Neptune, Uranus, under an improving seeing. I like the result, with 4
satellites which comes out nicely (after a slight of processing), and a
magnitude 11 star inviting itself in the field.
Bright
Northern polar zone comes out well, and we can see a bit of the same thing on
the Southern hemisphere.
There might
be a small spot turning with the planet just south of the northern polar zone,
but it's really not sure; there are also some things on the opposite side but
they do not turn correctly with the planet, so they are just artifacts.
Let's start with
the R+IR image:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20150826r-01h59.0UT-MDe.jpg
The
derotation of the 3 IR images:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20150826-02h32.7UT-MDe.jpg
The 2 IR
images where we might see some detais, please check the high contrast image:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20150826i-02h32.7UT-MDe.jpg
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20150826i-02h47.7UT-MDe.jpg
The
animation, for the pleasure of seeing everything moving (of course the star is
not really moving, that's a relative effect with Uranus moving on its orbit):
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20150826-MDe.gif
Now, I'm
waiting for the next good conditions without any wind ...
Steady
skies,
Marc DELCROIX
(
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix
¤••••Subject: Neptune
& Triton 2015.08.26
Received:
Dears,
Good conditions tonight, for two
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/n20150826i-00h35.0UT-MDe.jpg
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/n20150826i-01h06.3UT-MDe.jpg
Steady skies,
Marc DELCROIX
(
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix
¤••••Subject: Solar
images 15th to 22nd -2015
Received:
Hi Guys Things started off pretty slow until AR2043 got out of the blocks. Weather limited imaging of this beauty’s early progress, but fortunately 21st and 22nd gave an opportunity at my location.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks, the
Ham call G4PIE
¤••••Subject:
Received:
Dears,
Thanks to the latest observations made these last 2 weeks, I could confirm that
the spot we observe accelerated its drift. I now estimate it around 26°/Julian
Day, and measured the latitude around -42°.
The new ephemeris (I call it now spotA2 to identify the shift in drift) is made
with the 7 best fitted observations and surprisingly an observation I made
which was perfectly aligned with the previous drift on Aug. 3rd, hint maybe
that the spot started changing it's speed just after that date.
Here are the new ephemeris for your convenience:
WinJUPOS 10.2.0 (Neptune), C.M. transit times, 2015/08/25 17:50
Object longitude: L = 273,8° + 25,9898°/d * (T - 2015 Aug 16,5)
Time interval: 2015 Aug 03,0 ... 2015 Oct 01,0
Output format: Date UT (C.M. of System 1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 Aug 03 04:28 ( 288°) 21:24 ( 306°)
2015 Aug 04 14:20 ( 324°)
2015 Aug 05 07:16 ( 343°)
2015 Aug 06 00:11 ( 1°) 17:07 ( 19°)
2015 Aug 07 10:03 ( 38°)
2015 Aug 08 02:59 ( 56°) 19:54 ( 74°)
2015 Aug 09 12:50 ( 93°)
2015 Aug 10 05:46 ( 111°) 22:42 ( 130°)
2015 Aug 11 15:37 ( 148°)
2015 Aug 12 08:33 ( 166°)
2015 Aug 13 01:29 ( 185°) 18:24 ( 203°)
2015 Aug 14 11:20 ( 221°)
2015 Aug 15 04:16 ( 239°) 21:12 ( 258°)
2015 Aug 16 14:07 ( 276°)
2015 Aug 17 07:03 ( 294°) 23:59 ( 313°)
2015 Aug 18 16:55 ( 331°)
2015 Aug 19 09:50 ( 349°)
2015 Aug 20 02:46 ( 8°) 19:42 ( 26°)
2015 Aug 21 12:38 ( 45°)
2015 Aug 22 05:33 ( 63°) 22:29 ( 81°)
2015 Aug 23 15:25 ( 99°)
2015 Aug 24 08:21 ( 118°)
2015 Aug 25 01:16 ( 136°) 18:12 ( 154°)
2015 Aug 26 11:08 ( 173°)
2015 Aug 27 04:04 ( 191°) 20:59 ( 209°)
2015 Aug 28 13:55 ( 228°)
2015 Aug 29 06:51 ( 246°) 23:47 ( 265°)
2015 Aug 30 16:43 ( 283°)
2015 Aug 31 09:38 ( 301°)
2015 Sep 01 02:34 ( 319°) 19:30 ( 338°)
2015 Sep 02 12:26 ( 356°)
2015 Sep 03 05:21 ( 14°) 22:17 ( 33°)
2015 Sep 04 15:13 ( 51°)
2015 Sep 05 08:09 ( 70°)
2015 Sep 06 01:04 ( 88°) 18:00 ( 106°)
2015 Sep 07 10:56 ( 124°)
2015 Sep 08 03:52 ( 143°) 20:48 ( 161°)
2015 Sep 09 13:43 ( 179°)
2015 Sep 10 06:39 ( 198°) 23:35 ( 216°)
2015 Sep 11 16:31 ( 235°)
2015 Sep 12 09:27 ( 253°)
2015 Sep 13 02:22 ( 271°) 19:18 ( 289°)
2015 Sep 14 12:14 ( 308°)
2015 Sep 15 05:10 ( 326°) 22:05 ( 344°)
2015 Sep 16 15:01 ( 3°)
2015 Sep 17 07:57 ( 21°)
2015 Sep 18 00:53 ( 39°) 17:49 ( 58°)
2015 Sep 19 10:44 ( 76°)
2015 Sep 20 03:40 ( 94°) 20:36 ( 113°)
2015 Sep 21 13:32 ( 131°)
2015 Sep 22 06:28 ( 150°) 23:24 ( 168°)
2015 Sep 23 16:19 ( 186°)
2015 Sep 24 09:15 ( 204°)
2015 Sep 25 02:11 ( 223°) 19:07 ( 241°)
2015 Sep 26 12:03 ( 260°)
2015 Sep 27 04:58 ( 278°) 21:54 ( 296°)
2015 Sep 28 14:50 ( 314°)
2015 Sep 29 07:46 ( 333°)
2015 Sep 30 00:42 ( 351°) 17:38 ( 10°)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to all of the
Steady skies,
Marc DELCROIX
(
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix
¤••••Subject: Cassini's
Last Close Flyby of Dione
Received:
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Three days ago, Cassini executed its last, very close flyby of Saturn's moon, Dione, coming within 295 miles of its surface.
From the finest details ever seen on the moon's surface to a glorious, dimly lit crescent seen in 'Farewell!', here are our parting shots of this small, icy, alien world.
http://www.ciclops.org/view/8185/Cassinis-Final-Breathtaking-Close-Views-of-Dione
With only two more years to go, if that, we are beginning 'the lasts' on this long mission ... those final encounters or close passages by, in turn, its moons, rings, and atmosphere.
Consider this the start of The Long Goodbye.
Enjoy!
Carolyn PORCO (
Cassini Imaging Team Leader
Director, CICLOPS, Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO
Visiting Distinguished Scholar, UC Berkeley, CA
Fellow, California Academy of Sciences, San Francsicso
http://ciclops.org
¤••••Subject: RE: Lunar Images
Received:
Dear Reiichi
I also attach an image of the 1,5m reflector which is at the Boydon
Observatory. It was an amazing visit! I am standing on the left.
Again, apologies for the large size of image.
Best regards, Clyde
Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)
¤••••Subject: RE: Lunar Images
Received:
Dear Reiichi
It is always good to hear from you and thank you very much for your comments and also the drawing of Plato in your article. Very interesting!
There is still more that I need to learn about the image processing and do not fully understand what is causing the "doubling"(Optics, conditions, processing?).
Yes, I have read about the "brother of Plato", and as mentioned, this is definitely a favourite lunar area of mine, with the impressive mountain ranges. The craterlets on the floor of Plato are always a good test of image quality.
I am not sure if I mentioned it in previous communications, but I recently visited a number of the major observatories in South Africa. I was pleasently surprised when I visited the Boydon Observatory in Bloemfontein, (which was historically linked with the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona) to see that some of the early Mars work(back in the 1920-30's?) was done with telescopes that have eventually ended up at this observatory and they have some interesting records and photos there. I am considering doing an article on my "roadtrip" but am trying to get some more information on the Mars exhibition. I have attached a few photos from the Boydon Observatory(I would like to acknowledge the warm welcome and assistance I was given by Pieter Meintjies of the University of the Freestate during my visit to Boydon. Any images used are with acknowledgement to the Boydon Observatory).
Best regards and I am definitely looking forward to the next Mars apparition as I will be well placed down in South Africa, Clyde(my apologies for the large size of the attached images. I hope you receive them ok)
Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)
¤••••Subject: Jupiter 2015.04.21 and
phemu (Ganymede occulting Io)
Received:
Dears,
A bit late but before IMCCE deadline, here are the results of my last phemu - I had finally the time to process it just before my vacation. Conditions were turbulent, but I could nonetheless make something out of it.
Everything is in the images/animations/graph below:
Summary of the event:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/phemu20150421-3occ1-MDe.jpg
Light curve :
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/phemu20150421b-3occ1-MDe.jpg
Animation:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/phemu20150421a-3occ1-MDe.gif
And one image for Jupiter:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/j20150421i-21h45.9UT-MDe.jpg
Next one ... in six years from now ... astronomy gives a taste of time passing by ...
Marc DELCROIX
(
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix
¤••••Subject: solar images
7-8-9-August2015
Received:
Hi Guys these images clear my backlog from the 5 imageable days out of the first 13 this month. The images are mostly about AR2396, but he deserves it, seen here in both Ha and White, with some side by side images too ! Quite a nice prom on the 9th for good measure.
Seeing had its moments.
best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)
Ham call G4PIE
¤••••Subject: Neptune & Triton
2015.08.07
Received:
Dears,
Under correct conditions, with maybe some detail - but most likely noise:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/n20150807i-01h53.1UT-MDe.jpg
Steady
skies,
Marc DELCROIX
(
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix
¤••••Subject: Uranus and satellites
2015.08.07
Received:
Dears,
Under correct conditions, but that's not enough to get a good image of Uranus ...
we can hardly see the brighter northern polar zone.
In R+IR:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20150807r-03h11.2UT-MDe.jpg
In IR:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20150807i-03h29.1UT-MDe.jpg
Steady skies,
Marc DELCROIX
(
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix
¤••••Subject: Lunar Images
Received: 11
August 2015 at 23:47 JST
Dear Clyde,
Though your lunar images attached to your LtE dated 07 August all show some ghost-like S to N doubling for the clear-cut craters, peaks and ridges, I like the images very much, they are very smooth and natural. They reminded me of my incredibly energetic twenty-year-old days ; Every clear night I took drawings and photographs of Mars, Jupiter and the MOON, and every cloudy/rainy night went out drinking or chasing girls!
I also love the view around Plato, especially when the sun is low enough to enhance the delicate irregularities in the mare surface.
As Oli Froom's beautiful mirror-image sketch suggests... :
...I believe Plato has a twin brother, slightly wider across, just south off the Greater Black Lake, almost submerged below Mare Imbrium, leaving its outline with subtle wrinkle ridges. Mons Pico, and a part of Montes Teneriffe might had been the highest portions of the sunken twin's outer rim.
In the mid-90's I had a regular page for my essay in the monthly Tenmon-Guide (A Guide to Astronomy, the Japanese counterpart to Sky & Telescope). The page was entitled “泰平天文趣味人気質” (taihei-tenmon-shumijin-katagui, or That's The Way The Light-Hearted Astronomers Like It). Please find attached the scan of the one appeared in August 1994 titled "The MOON is a Harsh Test-Chart" giving the trace of the Lunar Orbiter 4 image of Plato with the craterlets on the floor with their sizes as the chart to test the resolution of our telescopes. I had visually observed the Plato craterlets so many times with various sizes of telescopes, often with an iris diaphragm, and have come to have the cnclusion that the minimum diameter of the crater on the Moon discernable as a shadowed relief image nearly corresponds to the Dawes' limit. It's amazing that today's excellent imagers' Plato images seem to surpass this limit；e.g. Damian Peach's Plato images resolve the floor craterlets as small as 0.4km across!
I am always looking forward to
seeing your and many skiliful observers' excellent lunar images with various
lighting conditions.
Best
Regards,
Reiichi KONNAÏ (Fukushima, JAPAN)
¤••••Subject: SOLAR IMAGES 2-4-August-2015
Received: 11
August 2015 at 22:01 JST
Hi Guys here area few images from early August, when AR2396 was immature but ambitious. AR2394 was the star of the show, captured here on the 4th, during moments of better than average seeing.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)
Ham call G4PIE
¤••••Subject: August 9
Received: 10
August 2015 at 08:07 JST
Dear Masatsugu,
I hope you are well. I have been reflecting today on the events of 70 years ago, and cannot do so without recalling the magnificent time I had in Nagasaki, including the OAA event at which I received the medal of the society, and the grand dinner, at which I was so cordially treated, in that splendid hotel on St. Paul Avenue across the street from the International Peace Park. I still remember well attending the Nagasaki atomic bomb museum with you and Asada; we spoke not a word to one another. There was nothing to be said. I shall never forget how moving that was.
I thank you so much for introducing me to the beauty of Japan, both its geography and culture, on that pilgrimage of 2004.
It occurs to me that since you were born in 1939, the first six years of your life were spent with the country on a full war footing. I wish you would some day write your memoirs and describe those experiences, and of course the way that Mars took hold of you in 1954, the year I was born.
*** I was in Flagstaff for the New Horizons flyby? and had a chance to meet up with Ewen Whitaker, the great lunar man; his daughter and son-in-law live close to where I have a place now. Will write up something in due course for you about these experiences.
I simply wanted to express my kind regards to you on this day of days,
Bill
Bill SHEEHAN (
¤••••Subject: Re: Saturn, August 7
Received: 8
August 2015 at 15:43 JST
Here is a slightly
updated image, to check if the curved edge showing on the hex is real... I've
added 3 more IR685nm runs to the mix, making 7 separate runs in total over the
space of about 30 minutes (3 minutes per recording). The detail is improved
slightly and features are a bit easier to see.
Also changed the order of processing so the WinJupos derotate-and-merge is done
last, preserving the nice simulated edge to the globe that it generates :-)
cheers, Anthony
Link:
http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/gallery/saturn/20150807-104742/s20150807-104742utc.png
On 8/08/2015 2:51 PM, 'Trevor Barry' trevb@iinet.net.au [hstjupiter] wrote:
Nice work Bird,
The side of the hex facing Earth in this data
set caught my attention, there seems to be something happening, particularly at
the F vertice of this side of the hex. If you open the image and zoom it, there
seems to be a disturbance associated with that vertice. Could be an artifact
but certainly worth keeping an eye on.
Regards
Trevor
PS; will add a data point for the +63 spot to
my spreadsheet & drift chart from this data.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Anthony Wesley
Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2015 11:05 AM
Subject: Saturn, August 7
> Hi all, some decent seeing for a while last night - here's an IR image
> showing the +63N storm rising at top left. You can see that there are
> brighter regions preceding and following the darker core. Some shorter
> arcs of dark material can be seen at about the same latitude near the
> centre of the image.
>
> The polar hex and its central vortex are both visible at top. This image
> is a combination of 4 runs merged in WinJupos.
>
> cheers, Anthony
>
> Link:
> http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/gallery/saturn/20150807-103654/s20150807-103654utc.png
Anthony WESLEY (QLD, AUSTRALIA)
¤••••Subject: Good seeing on July 26 2015- Saturn and Lunar
images
Received: 7
August 2015 at 13:49 JST
Hi, all
I had some good seeing for a short while on the early evening of 26th July and managed to capture a few images of Saturn and the nearby Moon which I thought I would share with you(I have already shared seperately with BAA and ALPO Saturn sections and the BAA Lunar section, so apologies for any duplication).
I am not convinced I am getting the best out of my Saturn images as yet, but the images do show the current storm systems on the planet.
Regarding the lunar images, I could have dropped back to f11, but thought I would give it a crack staying at f22 due to the seeing. I probably rate the Copernicus image as one of my best results so far. The Plato image unfortunately has a few artifacts, but does show quite a number of the minor craterlets on the floor of the crater.(Damian, all, if anyone has any comments on the "doubling" of the main cratelets I would appreciate it. I am wondering if it is not related to the alignment box size and positions in Autostakkert2!, or is it for some other reason? This effect is also a bit evident in the Montes Tenneriffe image)
The Montes Teneriffe and Mons Pico image is probably my favourite lunar image for a number of reasons, and my commentary was as follows: "Having tackled a few of the big mountains of the world, I will always be drawn to the "Mountains of the Moon" and I was particularly struck by the scene I have captured in the attached image. If I can be excused for making the comments myself, it is a stunning vista highlighting a number of mountain massifs, with their associated gullies, ridges and summits rising to heights of up to 2400m above the surrounding plains. It is very evident that these peaks are only the remaining summits of more substantial structures which are now submerged below the lava floor of Mare Imbrium. The base of Mons Pico, at centre right covers an area of 15x25km, and with an altitude of 2400m, would likely provide opportunities for both gentle treks to the summit, as well as more serious climbing! Pico Beta is the peak at lower right. I also note the interesting crater chain just above Mons Pico, and the outer regions of Plato are at upper right. Definitely one of my favourite lunar images."
Best regards, Clyde
Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)
¤••••Subject: solar images 29-30-31-July-2015
Received: 6
August 2015 at 06:41 JST
Hi Guys These images end the run of 15 fruitful imaging days in July. The Ha image from the 29th shows spot AR2391 , but note the massive disturbance to the top right of it, where no sunspot exists.
AR 2390 was made up of pores on the 29th, but did have some penumbra on the 27th ( too cloudy here to have imaged). Best seeing moments of the three days were on the 31st.
The images are best viewed full screen on the slideshow.
best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)
Ham call G4PIE
¤••••Subject: Stereo image of Pluto
Received: 3
August 2015 at 22:54 JST
Dear all,
NASA released a fantastic stereo image pair of the plutoed once-a planet,
arranged by the great(!) legendary Rock Star/Astrophysicist Brian May:
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/rock-starastrophysicist-dr-brian-may-goes-backstage-with-new-horizons
This "officially NH approved" stereo pair consists of the "farewell look" photo from 15th July and the "two-by-two" image downloaded from NH on the 17th, must have a baseline(a virtual giant's interpupillary distance) of a few hundred thousand miles, as Dr. Brian May says.
The commentary reccomends to buy or make a stereoscopic viewer. If you can do stereoscopic parallel freeviewing, you can see on the spot to enjoy the fantastic real ball-like color 3D Plutonian globe floating in the space! And I notice by stereo freeviewing, a distinct concentric double-ringed fresh crater about 80km across, a bit due west of the great "ice cream cone", is about to be perceptible as a realistic 3D crater!
You can also access the interview in which Dr. Brian May demonstrates how he brings New Horizons Pluto photos to life in 3D：
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-zurr9PHKg&index=1&list=PL5u7fD8rLzj22GAMKStDhK6nGvJ2GhEVy
For stereo viewing of the ground-based planetary images, please refer to my article "Application of Stereoscopic Inspection to Planetary Images", CMO/ISMO #403(25 October 2012)：
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmomn4/CMO403.pdf
Best Regards,
Reiichi KONNAÏ
(
¤••••Subject: Uranus & satellites 2015.07.29
Received: 3
August 2015 at 06:03 JST
Dears,
Under correct seeing, Uranus with 5 satellites in infrared, and one color
version with ASI224MC camera, with the northern polar zone appearing brighter :
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20150729l-03h38.1UT-MDe.jpg
In
IR:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20150729i-03h00.8UT-MDe.jpg
It's
clear for me that seeing quality is essential to get details on Uranus and
Neptune ...
Steady skies,
Marc DELCROIX
(
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix
¤••••Subject: Neptune & Triton 2015.07.29
Received: 3
August 2015 at 05:59 JST
Dears,
Under correct seeing, Neptune & Triton in infrared, and one color version with
ASI224MC camera, with maybe a detail in IR (but that could be as well an
artifact) :
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/n20150729l-01h55.3UT-MDe.jpg
In
IR:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/n20150729i-01h30.5UT-MDe.jpg
It's
clear for me that seeing quality is essential to get details on Uranus and
Neptune ...
Steady
skies,
Marc DELCROIX
(
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix
¤••••Subject: Saturn July 31 IR
Received: 1
August 2015 at 14:32 JST
Following on the last image, here
is an IR image of Saturn from last night where the +63N storm can be clearly
seen.
Link:
http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/gallery/saturn/20150731-113336/s20150731-113336utc.png
regards,
Anthony
Anthony WESLEY (QLD,
AUSTRALIA)
¤••••Subject: saturn, July 31
Received: 1
August 2015 at 08:48 JST
Hi all,
some reasonable seeing last night so I captured some colour data for a change.
Lots of interesting colour changes going on in Saturns north. The +63N storm is
also present in this image but it;s pretty much invisible in RGB.
link:
http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/gallery/saturn/20150731-110609/s20150731-110609utc.png
cheers, Anthony
Anthony
WESLEY (QLD, AUSTRALIA)