Solar&Planetary LtE Now for CMO/ISMO #83 (CMO #457)

Solar & Planetary LtE Now for CMO/ISMO #83 (CMO #457)

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¤····Subject: Mars 2016/12/15 1448UT CM226 IR

Received: 16 December 2016 at 15:24 JST

Hi all,

I am limited to IR imaging under the current very poor conditions.

Attached image from this afternoon with Mare Cimmerium prominent

Best regards,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161215/CFs15Dec16.jpg

Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)

¤····Subject: Mars October 24

Received: 16 December 2016 at 08:52 JST

Below average seeing.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161024/PMx24Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars 2016/12/13 1646UT CM275, 1734UT CM286 IR

Received: 15 December 2016 at 16:34 JST

Hi all,

I got a message saying that this did not get delivered. Am resending:

Two IR captures from 13 December, as poor conditions are continuing.

Best regards,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161213/CFs13Dec16.jpg

Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)

¤····Subject: Mars: December 14, 2016

Received: 15 December 2016 at 14:02 JST

Hi,

I have attached my latest image of Mars December 14, 2016 at 22:02 UT

Thanks,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161214/FMl14Dec16.jpg

Frank J MELILLO (Holtsville, NY)

¤····Subject: Mars 2016/12/12 1813UT CM306

Received: 15 December 2016 at 03:18 JST

Hi all,

IR capture from 12 December.

Best regards,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161212/CFs12Dec16.jpg

Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)

¤····Subject: Mars 09 December 2016

Received: 14 December 2016 at 15:49 JST

Dear Dr.Minami,
Sorry to be late in submitting my latest Mars observation.
Attached here is the image taken under poor seeing condition.
SPC indistinguishable, SPR slightly lighter?
Good Seeing!
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161209/Kn09Dec16.jpg

Reiichi KONNAÏ (Fukushima, JAPAN)

¤····Subject: Mars October 23

Received: 14 December 2016 at 08:34 JST

Average seeing.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161023/PMx23Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars - December 6th, 8th

Received: 12 December 2016 at 05:35 JST

Hi Mr. Minami and All!,

Here are two sessions from december 6th, 8th from below to average conditions.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161206/EMr06Dec16.jpg

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161208/EMr08Dec16.jpg

Efrain MORALES RIVERA (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico)

¤····Subject: Mars October 22

Received: 13 December 2016 at 08:41 JST

Decent seeing.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161022/PMx22Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars 2016/12/11 1653UT CM296

Received: 12 December 2016 at 16:32 JST

Hi all,

Conditions improved a little late yesterday afternoon and I was able to capture a colour and a further IR.

Syrtis Major and Hellas had rotated into view. Interesting that the outline of Hellas is very ill-defined, certainly not bright, and there appears to be quite large albedo features extending across the basin to the south and East. Despite the poor conditions, from my processing, this appears to be “real” although any comments are welcome.

Best regards,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161211/CFs11Dec16.jpg

Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)

¤····Subject: Mars 2016/12/11 1410UT CM257

Received: 12 December 2016 at 00:30 JST

Hi all,

Another IR capture of Mars from this afternoon.

Best regards,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161211/CFs11Dec16.jpg

Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)

¤····Subject: Mars: December 10, 2016

Received: 11 December 2016 at 13:38 JST

Hi,

I have attached my latest image of Mars December 10, 2016 at 22:42 UT

Thanks,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161210/FMl10Dec16.jpg

Frank J MELILLO (Holtsville, NY)

¤····Subject: Mars October 21

Received: 11 December 2016 at 08:58 JST

Average seeing.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161021/PMx21Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars 2016/12/10 1330UT CM257

Received: 10 December 2016 at 23:27 JST

Hi all,

This daylight IR capture from this afternoon is testament to the incredible technology and software we are privileged to have at our disposal nowadays. Current atmospheric conditions(cloudy and very hot) in my region can only be described as “terrible” and Mars was a boiling, blurry, dynamic mess, with only rare indications that I was observing a disk! Focussing was almost impossible and was eventually done by my own “gutfeel” and guessing the best focus point. Nonetheless, I was surprised that I got this final result, and I am again submitting for the record. Rather amazingly, in the circumstances, Mare Cimmerium, Mare Tyrrhenum, Hesperia, Ausonia and a hint of the Elysium regions are detectable.

Best regards,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161210/CFs10Dec16.jpg

Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)

¤····Subject: Mars October 14

Received: 9 December 2016 at 11:06 JST

Average seeing.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161014/PMx14Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars 2016/12/08 1649UT CM325

Received: 9 December 2016 at 02:42 JST

Hi all,

Very poor conditions this afternoon and this IR capture was through dense clouds. Submitting for the record.

Best regards,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161208/CFs08Dec16.jpg

Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)

¤····Subject: Mars and Uranus 29th Nov 2016

Received: 8 December 2016 at 05:02 JST

Hi,
Two very different targets, although both small, imaged during fairish seeing last Tuesday 29th Nov. from St Albans, UK.

First was Mars some four and a half months after my last attempt as the planet simply refuses to slip away quietly - in fact it is higher in altitude from here now compared to June/July, but is just a tiny 6.5" across.

Later in the night I had a third attempt this apparition at imaging Uranus in IR with 610nm filter. Best of the three with image colourised for aesthetic reasons and the moons processed separately. Stacked best 60% of the two best 3min videos (out of 6 taken). Quite pleased with this one. See at the top of the page here if you don't get the attachment for some reason;
http://www.skyinspector.co.uk/other

Cheers,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161129/MLw29Nov16.jpg

Martin LEWIS (St Albans, the UK)
www.skyinspector.co.uk

¤····Subject: Solar images 25 Nov to 5 Dec 2016

Received: 7 December 2016 at 07:40 JST

Hi Guys nice to see an active sun in visible light. Seeing in the first two days of the sequence image of AR2612 was really bad, but excellent for the altitude from the 28th Nov. Reaching superb on the 29th, under a high pressure weather system. AR 2165 made a quiet entrance, but built rapidly.

Best wishes

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

www.david-tyler.com

¤····Subject: Mars 2016/12/06 1520UT CM323

Received: 7 December 2016 at 02:49 JST

Hi all,

I have returned from my family visit to the UK and it’s nice to be back in the observatory and seeing our “small red planet” again. Mars is now at Ls 275 and 6,4” diameter. Subtle markings in Hellas seem to indicate that conditions are clear(?), and in my opinion, conditions appear calm from a dust storm perspective. The capture is a 3 x 90s derotation , and I have also aligned the planetary north/south in Winjupos.

Best regards, Clyde

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161206/CFs06Dec16.jpg

PS: Although a family visit, it was a pleasure and a privilege to be able to meet up with Jeremy Shears (BAA president), John Rogers (BAA Jupiter section) and astro-imagers Martin Lewis and David Arditti for drinks and a meal(images attached) whilst I was in London. I was also able to pick up a copy of Richard McKim’s monologue on Telescopic Martian dust storms, which is now proudly included in my growing Mars library at home.

Image taken in the Royal Astronomical Society Library, Burlington House, Piccadilly London.

L-R: Clyde Foster, Jeremy Shears, John Rogers, David Arditti.

Image taken at the Imperial China Restaurant, Piccadilly London.

L-R: David Arditti, Martin Lewis, John Rogers, Clyde Foster.

Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)

¤····Subject: Mars October 11

Received: 6 December 2016 at 08:49 JST

So so seeing.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161012/PMx12Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars - November 29th

Received: 6 December 2016 at 04:47 JST

Hi Mr. Minami and All!,

Here is my latest attempt under below average conditions just a short session only in Ir685 filter only RGB's were effected by clouds.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161129/EMr29Nov16.jpg

Efrain MORALES RIVERA (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico)

¤····Subject: Mars: December 4, 2016

Received: 5 December 2016 at 10:49 JST

Hi ,

I have attached my latest images of Mars December 4, 2016.

Thanks,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161204/FMl04Dec16.jpg

Frank J MELILLO (Holtsville, NY)

¤····Subject: Mars October 11

Received: 5 December 2016 at 10:37 JST

Decent.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161011/PMx11Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars 03 December 2016

Received: 5 December 2016 at 00:35 JST

Dear Dr.Minami,

I have attached here my latest image of mars captured under exceptionally (for our place in this season) good seeing.

Recently I am trying the "Drill-less Active Mirror Cooling System using a Portable Spot Cooler" proposed by an excellent planetary imager Ryuichi Iwamasa in Yokohama. Please find an attached montage of my mirror cooling unit, seems to be very effective in controlling tube currents.

GOOD Seeing!

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161203/Kn03Dec16.jpg

Reiichi KONNAÏ (Fukushima, JAPAN)

¤····Subject: Uranus 2016-11-29 19h42UT

Received: 4 December 2016 at 00:00 JST

Hi,

Uranus 2016-11-29 19h42 UT (North is up)

Website resolutie: http://astrofotografie.nl/uranus-2016-11-29-19h42ut-c14-r-bosman.html

Telescoop C14
Camera ASI 224 MC
Baader R Longpass filter

dispersion prism 3 degrees
Winjupos de-rotate

Regards Richard

Met Vriendelijk Groet

Richard BOSMAN (Enschede,The NETHERLANDS)

¤····Subject: Mars 2016.08.03

Received: 30 November 2016 at 16:10 JST

Dears,

I found on my hard drive a forgotten session on Mars, dated from early August, under lower than average conditions:

in infrared: http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/m20160803i-20h20.0UT-MDe.png

in red: http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/m20160803r-20h39.9UT-MDe.png

Steady skies,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160803/MDc03Aug16.jpg

Marc DELCROIX (Tournefeuille, FRANCE)

http://astrosurf.com/delcroix

¤····Subject: Mars October 10

Received: 30 November 2016 at 08:31 JST

Average seeing.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161010/PMx10Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: RE: of possible interest

Received: 29 November 2016 at 08:48 JST

Last line should be "despite Constance doing her worst" (autocorrect be d---d

Bill SHEEHAN (Flagstaff, AZ)

¤····Subject: of possible interest

Received: 29 November 2016 at 07:45 JST

Dear Richard (and other Martians),
I realize you, except Randall, may not get the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and so in the event it may be of interest I am sending the word file of "Percival Lowell's last year," the article I wrote for them which is about to appear (in the December issue of the journal).

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmomn4/Percival Lowell's last year.pdf

All the best, yours,
Bill

Bill SHEEHAN (Flagstaff, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars October 9

Received: 29 November 2016 at 08:54 JST

Windy evening
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161009/PMx09Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Uranus 2016-11-27 20h30 UT

Received: 29 November 2016 at 06:54 JST

Uranus 2016-11-27 20h30 UT
Website resolutie: http://astrofotografie.nl/uranus-2016-11-27-20h30-ut-r-bosman-c14.html

Telescoop C14
Camera ASI 1242 MC
Baader R Longpass filter
Winjupos

Regards Richard

Richard BOSMAN (Enschede,The NETHERLANDS)

¤····Subject: Re: Antoniadi Mars article--and book project

Received: 29 November 2016 at 05:30 JST

Dear Richard,
I am looking forward to reading the draft of the paper in due course, and reminded of just how much effort it has taken to uncover the details about Antoniadi you did. He rather took some satisfaction, I think, in concealing them--witness his destruction of all his observations before hisdeath. I suspect there are still some interesting stories to be found out, as there always are.

I was reminded of this just today, when I discovered that Clifford Cunningham, who has spent decades researching the early history of the asteroids, has found a new wrinkle in another old story--that of Piazzi and the discovery of Ceres. He somehow managed to scout out a passage in an old book, Basil Hall's Patchwork (1841), showing that Niccolo Cacciatore should be credited--as Heinrich d'Arrest has been--as co-discoverer of Ceres. Piazzi was calling out star positions while Cacciatore recorded them, and they kept this up for three nights--each time finding the position of one of them was off--before Piazzi realized they were dealing not just with observers' errors but with a new planet. I have rushed to add the episode into the chapter on asteroid discovery that I wrote up for the book on Pluto I've done with Dale Cruikshank.

***Regarding Antoniadi, I will send you the draft of the chapter for comment once I have it--as in the old days, when we routinely took turns with such favors; it will probably be sometime after the New Year. Like you, I have a number of literary projects in hand, and also like you, none of them are at all lucrative. (How could there be? There are so few of us enthusiastic about these topics on the whole planet--alas!) One that I have undertaken has been a series of "guides" to planets, being published as part of a series for the Science Museum, London, by Reaktion Press. Bill Leatherbarrow was first out of the blocks with a Moon book; I have finished (with assistance from Tom Hockey of Northern Iowa University) ones on Jupiter and Mercury, and they are eager to have one on Mars. I'm not particularly keen to do the latter, since I've done so much already in that line, but if I can interest you in co-authoring it, I would change my mind in a trice.

All the best
Bill

Bill SHEEHAN (Flagstaff, AZ)

¤····Subject: Re: Antoniadi Mars article--and book project

Received: 28 November 2016 at 18:05 JST

Thank you Bill. I did not yet discover the precise relationship, for the use of the word Uncle is apparently somewhat flexible when used among Greeks of that time, but I will let you know my final conclusion. There would be no chance of getting birth certificates, as Mr Z is known to have covered his tracks. I have recently drafted a paper about this matter and if accepted will send you a pre-print for your use. It is not yet finished or submitted but ought to be in a month or two. I am not quite ready to give a full and accurate account because checking the information is not easy! I would not want to give you a half truth. I am glad to see us both referenced in the article you kindly sent, and it was not a mere copy of what we had written, so someone actually did some research there.

Good luck with the writing. I am busy with four simultaneous writing projects, but sadly none for money!

All the best

Richard McKIM (Peterborough, The UK)

¤····Subject: Antoniadi Mars article--and book project

Received: 28 November 2016 at 06:01 JST

Dear Martian friends,
I came across the following article from 2015, in the National Herald News, a Greek newspaper, about Antoniadi. It doesn't contain much new information, but I was gratified to see that Richard and I were referenced. I note that the Greek name is rendered in two different ways in the article --as Eugenios Mihal Andoniadi and as Eugenios Mihail Andoniadis. Do any of you know which is correct?

After innumerable distractions, I am finally starting work on a new edition of *The Planet Mars* for U of Arizona Press, which was published in 1996 and so is now more than twenty years out of date. The spacecraft results have become so numerous and the science so complicated that I have joined forces with Jim Bell to do the new edition. I am going to handle the historical results--i.e., up through perhaps Mariner 9 and Viking—with special emphasis on the classical observers. The latter will always be the province that will be nearest and dearest to my heart. I am thinking of having three chapters at the heart of this section of the book--Schiaparelli, Lowell, and Antoniadi.

I was wondering, Richard and Randall, if you could recount to me what you found at the Paris Observatory when we were there in 2009? As I recall (though I was mainly eavesdropping on what you were finding out while working on other things), you found indications of a connection between Antoniadi to Basil Zaharoff, the notorious "Merchant of Death." What else did you discover about Antoniadi's family and his private life in Paris?

We had a few interesting small-scale events on the occasion of the centennial of Percival Lowell's death here in Flagstaff-- nothing grand. My article on Percival Lowell's last year is appearing in the Journal for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in December. I have already discovered something that needs correction (related to Lampland).

Best, Bill

------------------------------------------------------------------

Eugenios Mihal Andoniadi, The Famous Greek Mapmaker of Mars
By Constantinos E. Scaros <http://www.thenationalherald.com/author/dscaros/>
-

August 17, 2015

Eugenios Mihail Andoniadis was one of the most famous of all planetary astronomers. Yet few Greeks anywhere in the world could readily identify this man. This is especially curious since E.M. Antoniadi (as he was later known) is the most renowned question of mapmaker of Mars in human history. It was not until the 1975 Viking orbiter images that Antoniadi’s maps became a part of history rather than regularly consulted geographic guides. Such was the level of Antoniadi’s overall work that he is attributed with finally resolving the most sensational and perplexing question ever to be raised by Mankind; the existence of the Martian canals.

On March 1, 1870, Antoniadi was born in the Tatavla quarter of Constantinople the son of Michel Antoniadi and Photini Alexiou. Antoniadi so quickly developed an interest in astronomy that by his late teens he was already systematically searching the night skies with a 3-inch (76-mm) refracting telescope. First in Constantinople and later on the beaches of the island of Prinkipo, the young Greek began to compile detailed drawings of the planets and other objects he observed. Antoniadi’s exceptional talent as a draftsman was immediately recognized as he submitted his drawings to the Societe Astronomique de France and the British Astronomical Association.

In 1893, the young Greek was invited by (Nicholas) Camille Flammarion (1842-1925), to work at his private observatory at Juvisy-sur-Orge, near Paris. Flammarion was one of the world’s leading astronomers as well as the funder, in 1887, of the French Astronomical Society. Antoniadi published regularly in this society’s official bulletin L’astronomie. While Antoniadi was to earn a reputation as a brilliant observer it is in his role as a publishing scholar upon which his international fame was to rest. Aside from French the young Greek was fluent in English and regularly wrote for the Journal of the British Astronomical Association. Once in France Antoniadi devoted the rest of his life to the telescopic observation of planetary surfaces.

Clearly Antoniadi was a well-respected colleague who was read and listened to closely. But he was not initially a leading figure at the very center of the field of cutting edge astronomical debate. All that would come with the international controversy over life on Mars.

Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli (1835-1910), an Italian astronomer was the director of the Milan observatory from 1862 until, 1900, when he retired. Schiaparelli was the first to observe the asteroid Hesperia (1861) and is credited with identifying the orbits of numerous comets and shooting stars. Such was Schiaparelli’s work that he was awarded the prestigious Lalande Prize of the French Academie des Sciences in 1868. Today, Schiaparelli is most known for his observations and writings on the planet Mars.

Schiaparelli was not the first astronomer to draw maps of Mars but he was the first to note specific geographic features such as mountain ranges, seas, islands, capes, straits and so on. More importantly Schiaparelli was the first to systematically assign specific names to these geographic forms on his published maps. It was the translation of the word canali, which in Italian can mean either “channels” or “canals” that caused an international sensation.

Percival Lowell (1855-1916), a wealthy businessman and intellectual, who founded and became the director of the Lowell Astronomical Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, immediately, responded to the implications of canals on Mars. In 1906, Lowell published Mars and Its Canals arguing that for these massive canals to exist some intelligence must be at work on the planet surface (New York: Macmillan). A charismatic individual and dynamic public speaker Percival Lowell soon had the world scientific community and the world press abuzz with his theories.

Antoniadi made his observations from the Grand Lunette at Meudon to study Mars’s planetary oppositions between 1924 and 1941. While much of Antoniadi’ public life and work is documented his private life remains largely unknown. Curiously Antoniadi never officially belonged to the observatory staff. He referred to himself simply as the “astronome volontarie a l’Obervatoire de Meudon” Antoniadi was a man who could easily have secured a position in astromony literally anywhere in the world. But he did not seem to have needed such employment. On June 9, 1902, Antoniadi married Katherine Sevastupulo, who is said to have belonged to one of the leading families in Paris’s Greek community. Curiously history does not now record how Antoniadi made his living, assuming that he needed to do.

It is perhaps difficult for the modern Reader to fully comprehend the degree of public response and interest in Percival Lowell’s assertion of the intelligent life on Mars. What would otherwise have been dry academic articles read and argued by only a small circle of persons became the stuff of banner headlines in newspapers around the world. The scientific debate on the true surface of Mars became one of the very first international sensations of modern history.

At first, while at the Juvisy-sur-Orge observatory, Antoniadi was a supporter of Lowell’s work. Yet, Antoniadi’s own ongoing investigations and the publications of his colleagues caused him some considerable reflection. As William Sheehan has noted in, The Planet Mars: A History of Observation and Discovery, Antoniadi’s: “confidence in the whole network had been badly shaken by the “discovery” by Lowell and his assistants of what Antoniadi referred to as “subjective” linear markings on Mercury, Venus, and the Jovian satellites. Whereas in 1898 Antoniadi had stated that “despite the skepticism of several eminent authorities, I do not hesitate to say that the famous canals of Mars have a true objective existence,” by 1902 he characterized his position as “agnostic” (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996).”

Such was Antoniadi’s professional accomplishments that no less a figure than Henri Deslandres (1853-1948) the director of the Meudon Observatory placed the Grand Lunette, then, as now the largest refractor telescope in Europe (and the third largest in the world) fully at the Greek’s disposal. This led to a revelation. As Antoniadi’s wrote of his observations of Martian deserts using the Grand Lunette, “[T]he soil of the planet then appeared covered with a vast number of dark knots and chequered fields, diversified with the faintest imaginable dusky areas, and marbled with irregular, undulating filaments, the representations of which was evidently beyond the powers of any artist. There was nothing geometrical in all this, nothing artificial, the whole appearance having something overwhelming natural about it.”

The ever-meticulous Antoniadi soon realized that various optical effects were at play. Some involved the diffraction of light by the Earth’s atmosphere that gave the illusion of spots on his telescope lens. Other’s had to do with the eye’s linking of many tiny surface details into apparently meaningful patterns. In time Antoniadi took the unwavering position that, “Nobody has ever seen a genuine canal on Mars.” He rightly concluded that the “completely illusory canals” seen on Mars were, in fact, irregular features on that planet’s surface. The entry on Antoniadi in the International Encyclopedia of Astronomy flatly concludes, “he settled the controversy about the canals on Mars (Patrick Moore, editor, New York: Orion Books, 1987).”

In 1930, Antoniadi published, La planete Mars, 1659-1929 (Paris: Hedrmann et Cie), which has been translated into English by Patrick Moore as The Planet Mars (Sheldon Devon, U.K.: Keith Reid, 1975). Much has been written about Antoniadi. For those interested in learning more about Antoniadi’s career they can consult Richard J. McKim’s, 1993, two part article, “The Life and Times of E.M. Antoniadi, 1870-1944. Part I: An Astronomer in the Making” (Journal of the British Astronomical Association 103: 164_170. Bibcode: 1993JBAA..103..164M and Bibcode: 1993JBAA..103..219M). A serviceable overview that has extended passages on Antoniadi’s career can be found in the William Sheehan book already mentioned.

Antoniadi has experienced lasting fame within the scientific community in yet another manner. No less than three geographic sites on two planets and one moon are named after him. On our Moon there is the Antoniadi Crater, on Mercury there is the Antoniadi Dorsum, and on Mars there is the 381 km Antoniadi Crater, so named in 1973. This means that quite literally in our solar system more geographic locations are named after Eugenios Mihail Andoniadis than any other single Greek in history. In like manner Modern Greek history will never be complete until figures such as Antoniadi, an internationally recognized astronomer, on an equal footing with figures such as Flammarion, Schiaparelli and Lowell are factored into the wider flow of historical events.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Bill SHEEHAN (Flagstaff, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars October 8

Received: 28 November 2016 at 10:33 JST

Decent seeing.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161008/PMx08Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars: November 27, 2016

Received: 28 November 2016 at 09:37 JST

Hi -

I have attached my latest image of Mars November 27, 2016 at 22:06 UT.

Thanks,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161127/FMl27Nov16.jpg

Frank J MELILLO (Holtsville, NY)

¤····Subject: Mars - November 25th

Received: 27 November 2016 at 09:23 JST

Hi Mr. Minami and All!,

My latest session on november 25th still under the influence of heavy rains and clouds.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161125/EMr25Nov16.jpg

Efrain MORALES RIVERA (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico)

¤····Subject: Mars October 7

Received: 27 November 2016 at 11:07 JST

Average seeing.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161007/PMx07Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars October 5

Received: 27 November 2016 at 08:05 JST

Fair seeing.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161005/PMx05Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars October 2

Received: 25 November 2016 at 23:42 JST

October 2 images

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161002/PMx02Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Uranus & satellites 2016.11.02

Received: 25 November 2016 at 17:17 JST

Dears,

Uranus & satellites under a steady sky. The brighter polar zone is clearly seen:

http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/u20161102i-21h55.2UT-MDe.png

Here is a view without any legend:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/u20161102i-21h55.2UT-MDe_nolegend_large.png

Steady skies,

Marc DELCROIX (Tournefeuille, FRANCE)

http://astrosurf.com/delcroix

¤····Subject: Mo20Nov_16

Received: 23 November 2016 at 22:36 JST

Mars images on 20 November 2016.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161120/Mo20Nov16.jpg

Yukio MORITA (Hiroshima, JAPAN)

¤····Subject: Mars October 1

Received: 23 November 2016 at 08:42 JST

IR only, seeing didn't cooperate.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161001/PMx01Oct16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars 2016/11/20

Received: 22 November 2016 at 23:56 JST

Hello, here is Mars in average conditions at 30 degrees altitude.
Now is more than 200 mil.km away and presents a small disc but still with some details like the smal SPC.
http://www.astrovox.gr/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=20258

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161120/MKd20Nov16.jpg

Manos KARDASIS (Glyfada-Athens, GREECE)

¤····Subject: Mars September 30

Received: 22 November 2016 at 08:41 JST

Better seeing.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160930/PMx30Sept16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars - November 19th

Received: 21 November 2016 at 01:18 JST

Hi Mr. Minami and All!,

My session after the rain showers and a opening through the clouds on november 19th.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161119/EMr19Nov16.jpg

Efrain MORALES RIVERA (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico)

¤····Subject: Mars September 28

Received: 20 November 2016 at 09:21 JST

Below average seeing.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160928/PMx28Sept16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars: November 16, 2016

Received: 19 November 2016 at 10:37 JST

Hi ,

I have attached my latest image of Mars November 16, 2016 at 22:11 UT.

Thanks,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161116/FMl16Nov16.jpg

Frank J MELILLO (Holtsville, NY)

¤····Subject: Mars September 26

Received: 19 November 2016 at 08:38 JST

Below average seeing

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160926/PMx26Sept16.jpg

Paul MAXSON (Surprise, AZ)

¤····Subject: Mars - November 14th

Received: 18 November 2016 at 03:19 JST

Hi Mr. Minami and All!, Here is my session after over a week of heavy overcast and rain. From november 14th.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161114/EMr14Nov16.jpg

Efrain MORALES RIVERA (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico)

¤····Subject: Mars 2016/11/16 1639UT CM180 IR

Received: 17 November 2016 at 03:02 JST

Hi all,

A rather poor IR capture, taken through fairly thick cloud and my last capture for a while.

I leave for the UK tomorrow and will return home on 5 December, when I hope to continue imaging. I will be meeting with Martin Lewis and David Arditti who are on this circulation list next Tuesday and I am looking forward to the interaction and discussion.

Best regards,

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/161116/CFs16Nov16.jpg

Clyde FOSTER (Centurion, SOUTH AFRICA)

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