SolarPlanetary LtE Now for CMO/ISMO #24 (CMO #398)  

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 LtE#397

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¤·····Subject: Mars images (May 6th, 2012.)

Received; 21 May 2012 at 06:34 JST

 

 

Hi all,

Good seeing just after sundown for these. Syrtis Major nicely presented with bright clouds in Isidis. Some delicate clouds extending out of Chryse nicely seen in the B filter image.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120506/DPc06May12.jpg

http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_05_06rgb.jpg

 

Best Wishes

 

Damian PEACH  (Selsey, WS, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars, 16 and 17 May

Received; 21 May 2012 at 06:15 JST

 

Dear all,
Two images of the favourite planet, one of which from Martin Höberg. Nothing out of the ordinary to write home about.
 
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120516/MHg16May12.jpg 

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120517/JWr17May12.jpg

All the best,

Johan WARELL  (Skivarp, SWEDEN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Saturn 2012 May 13

Received; 21 May 2012 at 03:56 JST

 

Here's my Saturn from May 13. Seeing was poor here. At this time JUPOS  shows Mimas in transit across the S preceding part of the disk, but resolution is far too low to show that.

David ARDITTI  (Edgware, Middlesex, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: A few solar disks from May

Received; 21 May 2012 at 02:42 JST

 

Here are some Solar disks from May with the usual setup

 

May 6

http://www.astrosurf.com/pcasquinha/sun120506.jpg

http://www.astrosurf.com/pcasquinha/sun120506_c.jpg

May 8

http://www.astrosurf.com/pcasquinha/sun120508.jpg

http://www.astrosurf.com/pcasquinha/sun120508_c.jpg

May 14

http://www.astrosurf.com/pcasquinha/sun120514.jpg

http://www.astrosurf.com/pcasquinha/sun120514_c.jpg

 

My best regards

 

Paulo CASQUINHA (PORTUGAL)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars images (May 1st, 2012.)

Received; 20 May 2012 at 23:10 JST

 

Hi all,
Here are some images from May 1st showing the Chryse hemisphere of the planet.
 
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120501/DPc01May12.jpg

http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_05_01rgb.jpg

Best Wishes

Damian PEACH  (Selsey, WS, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars image AK19May12

Received; 20 May 2012 at 18:42 JST

 

Dear  Mr.Minami

 I attach Mars image on 19 May 2012.  It was little windy evening.

 http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120519/Ak19May12.jpg

Best Wishes

 

Tomio AKUTSU (Cebu, the PHILIPPINES)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars - May 12th, 00:41ut

Received; 20 May 2012 at 11:20 JST

 

Hi Mr. Murakami, Here is my latest session from May 12th, under average conditions, Clear Skies.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120512/EMr12May12.jpg

 

Efrain MORALES RIVERA (Aguadilla, PUERTO RICO)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Saturn May 16, 2012

Received; 20 May 2012 at 01:41 JST

 

Hello!
   The seeing was not good but there was just enough calm to give imaging a go. Temperature was very pleasant 64 degrees F. Bugs were a minor nuisance. Here id an image of Saturn with my TMB 10" F/9 @ F/36 using a skynyx color camera.

best,

Jim PHILLIPS  (Charleston, SC)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Re: I am sorry

Received; 20 May 2012 at 00:27 JST

 

Dear Masatsugu,

Thank you for your kind message - I learned about your health problem, and was not expecting to bother you about my visit in
Japan, but since I am in your friendly country, I wanted to say hello from closer to you, even if just by mail. I hope you can enjoy still a bit of the eclipse and the transit of Venus (Even if the weather might not be optimal in Tokyo for us).

Regards,

Nicolas BIVER (Versailles, France)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Re: CMO/ISMO updated

Received; 18 May 2012 at 21:46 JST

 

Dear all, and especially our Japanese friends.

Although I did not stop making drawings of Mars, including for this opposition, I am getting more and more overwhelmed by my (astronomical, too) job, plus trips at distance places to view Venus transit or eclipses...
And I did not find time to say that I am right now in Japan, and until the 25th of May.
 I have been in Niigata since monday (the 14th) for a "Asteroids, Comets, Meteors" meeting with about 400 participants.
I will travel to
Tokyo Sunday evening for the annular eclipse of Monday (21st) morning, and visit Kyoto on the 22nd to 24th.
I am very sorry that Dr Minami can no longer send us the printed version of the CMO/ISMO and I am very thankful for what he did for a long time, and I always appreciated receiving it in my mailbox - although I did not take enough time to send my contributions.

Sincerely,

Nicolas BIVER (Versailles, France)

 

 

¤·····Subject: RE: Solar Images 16-May-2012

Received; 18 May 2012 at 04:01 JST

 

I agree regarding Dave being the recipient of the BAA Merlin award!
Well-done and well-deserved!!

best,
------------------------

>Date: Thu, 17 May 2012 17:22:54 +0100
>From:
bhalls@ntlworld.com

>Subject: Re: Solar Images 16-May-2012

>Dave,
>Congratulations on the BAA Merlin Award - well deserved.
>Brian

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

 

Jim PHILLIPS  (Charleston, SC)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Solar Images 16-May-2012

Received; 18 May 2012 at 00:27 JST

 

Hi Guys there was a beautiful tall elegant prominence on the sun yesterday, as well as a large feathery arch. Ar 11479 was, as they say , crackling with flares.

http://www.david-tyler.com/image-gallery/?wppa-album=28&wppa-slide&wppa-occur=1  

 

Above hyperlink to updated May slideshow.

 

Images Coro 90 ss

 

Best wishes

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars drawing

Received; 16 May 2012 at 22:23 JST

 

Dear Dr. Minami, Attached here is my latest drawing
of Mars. I returned the size of my sketching circle
to 30mm across as the red planet's apparent size
dropped below 10 arcseconds.
 Good Seeing/Health!

 

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120514/Kn14May12.jpg

 

   Reiichi KONNAÏ  (Fukushima, JAPAN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: MARS - May 11, 2012 - Variable seeing

Received; 16 May 2012 at 12:36 JST

 

Hi Gentlemen,
My Mars images from
May 11, 2012 in Variable seeing

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120511/FWl11May12.jpg

 

Freddy WILLEMS (Waipahu, HI)

 

 

¤·····Subject: MARS - May 08, 2012 - Poor seeing

Received; 16 May 2012 at 12:34 JST

 

Hi Gentlemen,
My Mars images from
May 08, 2012 in poor conditions.
 
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120508/FWl08May12.jpg

 

Freddy WILLEMS (Waipahu, HI)

 

 

¤·····Subject: link failure

Received; 16 May 2012 at 02:45 JST

 

Hi Guys try pasting into your browser if the link is not "live"  I have had one  google chrome success story back and one failure .

 http://www.david-tyler.com/image-gallery/?wppa-album=28&wppa-slide&wppa-occur=1

 

 

Best wishes 

          

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: solar images up to 13may 2012

Received; 16 May 2012 at 02:30 JST

Hi Guy I have a new web site type.

 

As you know I normally add the image files to the e- mail , but this time I have just included a link to the May album slide-show , so you have one click armchair viewing.

 

http://www.david-tyler.com/image-gallery/?wppa-album=28&wppa-slide&wppa-occur=1

 

If you are feeling energetic , you can do a couple of CRTL + clicks to enlarge the page view, or, if you want a longer more detailed look at a particular image, just stop the slide-show on the image and click it again for the original full size view.  

 

If this all works as I hope please let me know, or indeed if it does not !.

 

 

Best wishes 

          

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 13-May-2012

Received; 15 May 2012 at 19:47 JST

 

Hi guys we had an evening of good seeing for a change, not excellent, but very welcome. Image is enlarged 240%. 

 http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120513/DTy13May12.jpg

Best wishes 

          

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

          

 

¤·····Subject: RE: Congratulations!

Received; 15 May 2012 at 09:44 JST

 

Dear Masatsugu,

 

Good to hear from you and thanks for your comments about the strange mushroom on Mars video I managed to capture.  I remember thinking that night that is would just be another night of imaging Mars as it quickly receded from us during the final portion of this apparition. It just goes to show you how many surprises Mars still has in store for us!

 

I'm still hoping to get in a few more imaging session before Mars gets below the trees in my backyard.  The forecast is for clear skies later this week so maybe I will have some more images to contribute to the gallery by this weekend.

 

I wish you the best and I hope you are doing better.  Thanks again for your kind comments.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill FLANAGAN    (Houston, TX)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars, 6 and 13 May

Received; 15 May 2012 at 02:31 JST

 

Dear colleagues,

Mars insists on getting smaller and making life more difficult for us...

Here are two snapshots from May 6 and 13 and you can see clearly the decreased disk diameter between the two dates. May 6 brought me Syrtis on the evening side with a blue cloud and an NPC with cloud patch on its morning side. May 13 brought me just the opposite in terms of disk positions, plus an Elysium orographic (?) cloud. In both cases, Hellas was bright cloud-filled.
 
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120513/JWr13May12.jpg
 
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120506/JWr06May12.jpg

 

Mars can now be seen well only in bright dusk at altitudes less than 40 degrees.

Best regards,

Johan WARELL  (Skivarp, SWEDEN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars&venus.12.may Saturn.9.may

Received; 14 May 2012 at 06:43 JST

 

Hi Guys

With poor seeing & variable conditon I took 3 images from planets- Moons. PLS see you them.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120512/SGh12May12.jpg

 

 Comment welcome.

 

Cheers

 

Sadegh GHOMIZADEH  (Tehran, IRAN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: MARS - May 06, 2012 - Poor seeing conditions

Received; 14 May 2012 at 05:11 JST

 

Hi Gentlemen, My Mars recordings from May 06, 2012.

  http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120506/FWl06May12.jpg


Poor seeing and windy at the time of recording.

Freddy WILLEMS (Waipahu, HI)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars: May 12, 2012

Received; 14 May 2012 at 01:30 JST

 

Hi -

  I have attached my latest image of Mars May 12, 2012 at 3:25 UT.

  http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120512/FMl12May12.jpg

 

   Thanks,

 

Frank J MELILLO (Holtsville, NY)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Venus 2012 May 11

Received; 13 May 2012 at 06:14 JST

 

Last night I observed Venus visually and via CCD in a dark blue sky (it's now too close to the Sun to be observed against a black sky at reasonable altitude), looking for any illumination of the dark side, but saw none. With CCD I tried with every colour filter and none, monitoring the overexposed image for any sign of the Ashen Light. Here is the IR 742nm image. Seeing was poor.

 

Also at: 

http://www.davidarditti.co.uk/astro/images/venus/12/ven2012-05-11-DLA.jpg

 

David ARDITTI  (Edgware, Middlesex, the UK)

http://www.davidarditti.co.uk

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars - May 04, 2012

Received; 13 May 2012 at 05:12 JST

 

Hi Gentlemen,
My set of May 04, 2012 in very poor seeing and windy conditions for now.
Seems to continue this weather for now.
Only Red and IR742 taken.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120504/FWl04May12.jpg

 

Freddy WILLEMS (Waipahu, HI)

 

 

¤·····Subject: May 02, 2012 - Poor seeing

Received; 13 May 2012 at 05:08 JST

 

Hi Gentlemen,
My set of May 02, 2012 in very poor seeing and windy conditions for now.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120502/FWl02May12.jpg

 

Freddy WILLEMS (Waipahu, HI)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars - April 29, 2012

Received; 13 May 2012 at 05:04 JST

 

Hi gentlemen,
My set of
April 29, 2012 in poor seeing conditions for now.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120429/FWl29Apr12.jpg

 

Freddy WILLEMS (Waipahu, HI)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 11-May-2012

Received; 13 May 2012 at 03:13 JST

 

Hi Guys a welcome clearing and fair seeing allowed a reasonable Mars Image, taken in quite a light sky.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120511/DTy11May12.jpg 

 

Best wishes 

 

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Saturn 2012 May 11

Received; 13 May 2012 at 02:21 JST

 

 

Seeing was poor, but at least some interesting colours have come out. 

 

I have started to pre-process using PIPP as recommended by Martin Lewis, and it is time-efficient once you have set it up.

 

Image also at:

 http://www.davidarditti.co.uk/astro/images/saturn/12/sat2012-05-11-DLA.jpg

 

David ARDITTI  (Edgware, Middlesex, the UK)

http://www.davidarditti.co.uk

 

 

¤·····Subject: Sad news from chile

Received; 12 May 2012 at 22:49 JST

Chile charges suspect with Japanese astronomer murder

Mr Morita was as astronomer of global renown
A Chilean man has been charged with the murder of Japanese astronomer Koichiro Morita in Santiago earlier this week.
Prof Morita, 57, was part of an international team involved in building the Alma radio telescope facility in northern Chile.
He was found collapsed outside his apartment in Santiago last Monday and died hours later in hospital.
Christopher Quijada, 25, is accused of killing him during a street robbery in the early hours of the morning.
Initially it was thought Prof Morita died as a result of an accidental fall, but an autopsy found he was struck on the head with a heavy object.
The authorities say Mr Quijada has confessed to tripping him over as he tried to escape being robbed, causing him to hit his head on the pavement, but denies murder.
The suspect will be held in custody while the investigation continues.
If convicted of robbery and homicide he faces a minimum of 10 years in jail.
Koichiro Morita was a leading figure in creating the Alma Observatory in the Atacama desert in northern Chile.
The Observatory said it was "saddened and deeply shocked" at the news of his death.
"He was one of the proponents of Alma as a global collaboration, bringing together people from all over the world to make what was just a vague concept into a reality," observatory director Thijs de Graauw said.
The giant radio telescope will enable scientists to gaze deeper into space than ever before and may shed light on the formation of our universe more than 13 billion years ago.


Bill SHEEHAN (Willmar, MN)

 

¤·····Subject: Saturn 11 May

Received; 12 May 2012 at 08:22 JST

 

Hi All,
 I have attached an RGB Saturn image from 11 May. The NTB dark spot and the NNTB bright spot are still visible, although not as prominent due to the mediocre seeing. Again several light spots are seen along the northern border of the NTBn.
Best,

 

Don PARKER  (Coral Gables, FL)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Solar  Image 11-May-2012

Received; 12 May 2012 at 04:12 JST

 

Hi Guys there was a flare in progress in AR 11475, as I glimpsed the sun through cloud breaks this morning.  A couple of high speed blue patches later and I had captured what I saw.

 

Best wishes

 

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

 

 

 

 

 

¤·····Subject: White Light sketch sequence AR 1476 May 11th 2012

Received; 12 May 2012 at 02:55 JST

 

Dobsonian mounted reflector no drive

200 mm /FL 1.200mm/  

Eyepiece 14mm Tele Vue Radian = Mag 85X

Baadar Astro Solar White Light Filter

 

Seeing varied between the first sketch at 08:20UT Wilson Scale 2, second sketch 10:45 UT Wilson Scale 3, third sketch 13:41 UT Wilson Scale 2.5 and the last sketch 16:10 UT Wilson Scale 2.5 3.5

All sketches were done in between rain and hailstone showers, very windy most of the time. HB Pencil and 6 B Pencils

 

Deirdre KELLEGHAN  
Discover Science and Engineering Science Ambassador 2012
Vice Chair IFAS
National Coordinator for Astronomers Without Borders
UNAWE rep Ireland


http://deirdrekelleghan.net
http://twitter.com/skysketcher
Pre Order Our Book on Lunar Sketching

 

 

¤·····Subject: mars 9 may.

Received; 11 May 2012 at 23:45 JST

 

Hi

 Poor seeing & bad condition.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120509/SGh09May12.jpg

 

Best Wishes,

 

Sadegh GHOMIZADEH  (Tehran, IRAN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Saturn 7 May

Received; 11 May 2012 at 06:18 JST

 

Hi All,
 I have attached a RGB Saturn image from 7 May. It is the product of five de-rotated images taken over 21 minutes. Many thanks to Chris Go for showing me how to do this as well as sharing some of his image processing tricks with  me!
 Note the very dark small spot on the NTB near the P limb: ~291 degrees (III), + 44.5 degrees.

Also there is a small white spot on the NNTB: ~323 degrees (III), +55 degrees. Numerous light spots are seen along the northern border of the NTBn.
Best,

Don PARKER  (Coral Gables, FL)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 6 May 2012, by Martin Högberg

Received; 9 May 2012 at 17:12 JST

 

Dear all,

 

I am happy to send you the first Mars image by _another_ Swedish planetary imager, Martin Högberg! I think we will see more of his good work.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120506/MHg06May12.jpg

 

All the best,


Johan WARELL  (Skivarp, SWEDEN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: mars.7.may

Received; 9 May 2012 at 13:20 JST

Hi

 Very poor seeing & condition.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120507/SGh07May12.jpg

 

Best Wishes,

 

Sadegh GHOMIZADEH  (Tehran, IRAN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Re: Drawings of Mars

Received; 9 May 2012 at 08:03 JST

 

Dear Reiichi,
No it's my turn to apologize because I have forgotten to answer to this mail !
Thanks for the delicate drawings. I did notice as well the change of brightness as Hellas proceeds to the limb, but so far I have no answer to give, and I have just not started to study the case (I'm currently working on the Tharsis morning clouds).
As to know if the ground of Hellas is frosted or cloudy, it will be as well hard to answer, just first because both clouds and frost are certainly present. I don't feel that multispectral analisis would help much here ; I'd rather try to consider for example :
- the albedo of the white area. Clouds are bright, but frost may not be bright, as the angle of sunlit is low. Here we may make a parallel with the aspect of the NPC before vernal equinox
Ls 0°
(like in 2007), where the cap was dull but the last NPH clouds brighter.
- Inside Hellas there is a higher plateau that looks to frost later, or to be less cloudy ; do we see it or not ? (See DPc on 1st april : it is visible). But by the way, we may encounter the case that the basin can be partially frosted, not fully)
- Can we look for indirect clues ? I'm thinking about the "escaping cloud" at the west of the basin. This cloud could be stronger, or even only visible when, the basin starts to frost. It seems to born because a dominant wind carries cold from Hellas. At high HST or probe resolution, small craters under this cloud are covered by frost as well.
Just a few thoughts !

Best wishes,

Christophe PELLIER (Nantes, FRANCE)

 

 

¤·····Subject: White light Sun - May 8th 2012

Received; 9 May 2012 at 04:34 JST

 

Hi all,

Some late afternoon Sun gave me opportunity to view AR1476 through a variety of filters. Here are two images taken though a Baader Astrosolar Film filter using a 4-inch refractor. The main spot in AR1476 is now visible to the unaided eye through a safety filter

.

 

 

 

Best regards,

Pete LAWRENCE

(Selsey, WS, the UK)
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars images (April 21st, 2012.)

Received; 9 May 2012 at 03:54 JST

 

Hi all

Some very good seeing on the 21st. Extensive clouds across the planet with a B filter image included. Olympus Mons is very dark and prominent. Arsia Mons looks strange - almost like a dark teardrop. Chasma Borealis prominent in the NPC.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120421/DPc21Apr12.jpg
http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_04_21rgb.jpg

 


Best Wishes

 

Damian PEACH  (Selsey, WS, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars: May 7, 2012

Received; 8 May 2012 at 13:20 JST

 

Hi -

  I have attached my latest images of Mars May 7, 2012 to be posted.

  http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120507/FMl07May12.jpg

 

   Thanks,

 

Frank J MELILLO (Holtsville, NY)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 7 May

Received; 8 May 2012 at 04:16 JST

 

Hi All,
I have attached an RGB Mars image from 7 May.
Numerous clouds are present. The NPC is tiny with Ierne visible just to the right of the cap.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120507/DPk07May12.jpg


Best,

 

Don PARKER  (Coral Gables, FL)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars, 2, 3 and 5 May

Received; 7 May 2012 at 23:33 JST

 

Dear friends,

Three more images from early May in brightening twilight. As the disk is getting smaller, unfortunately so seem the image artefacts on the bright limb. Cloud-filled
Hellas astonishingly bright on the 5th on the evening side.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120502/JWr02May12.jpg

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120503/JWr03May12.jpg

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120505/JWr05May12.jpg

All the best,

Johan WARELL  (Skivarp, SWEDEN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars images (April 14th, 2012.)

Received; 7 May 2012 at 22:26 JST

 

Hi all,

Here are some images from the 14th. Brilliant Tharsis orographics toward the limb. Delicate clouds across the disk again similar to the day before.


http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120414/DPc14Apr12.jpg
http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_04_14rgb.jpg

Best Wishes

 

Damian PEACH  (Selsey, WS, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Venus transit

Received; 7 May 2012 at 21:53 JST

 

Dear Masami and Masatsugu

I exploit your contact since a colleague of mine, astronomer in Paris
(Thomas Widemann, in cc), is preparing an expedition to Japan for the
observation of the transit of Venus, in the frame of a scientific
experiment (
http://venustex.oca.eu).
The problem is, that he cannot easily find telescope facilities in the
north of Japan (Hokkaido). In fact the idea would be to install a 10cm
refractor (especially equipped) on an existing mount. This instrument is
lightweight but a good tracking mount, well set up, is needed (so a
fixed mount is preferred).
Are you aware of any suitable site in that region? If yes, please let us
know at your earliest convenience...

Kind regards

 

Paolo TANGA (Laboratoire Lagrange, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, FRANCE)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 6 May 2012

Received; 7 May 2012 at 21:42 JST

 

Hi Guys

 

We had a late break up of the clouds to reveal the full moon and Mars. Seeing was usable too. Mars the incredible shrinking planet appears only 9.5 arc sec diameter now, and is past the meridian in a light sky from up here in the UK..

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120506/DTy06May12.jpg 

 It was a welcome sight after all the rain we have had during this drought. Yes we are on hosepipe bans just now !.  UK seems to be on a big hill so when it rains most of the water runs into the sea before we can capture it, such a pain , but not before it floods hundreds of homes!  I sure some jobsworth will point out they should not be using a hosepipe to pump the water out of the house. 

 

Cheers

 

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars - May 2nd, 4th

Received; 7 May 2012 at 15:03 JST

 

Hi Mr. Murakami,

Here are two sets from May 2nd and May 4th, under below average conditions,

Clear Skies.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120502/EMr02May12.jpg

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120504/EMr04May12.jpg

 

Efrain MORALES RIVERA (Aguadilla, PUERTO RICO)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars May 4th

.Received; 6 May 2012 at 23:09 JST

 

Here is an image of Mars taken May 4th at 01:58 UT

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120504/EGf04May12.jpg

http://www.egrafton.com/05-04-12.jpg

 

Ed GRFTON  (Houston, TX)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars high altitude limb cloud (April 13th, 2012.)

.Received; 6 May 2012 at 07:36 JST

 

Hi all,
Images from the April 13th session clearly show the southern high altitude limb cloud again. I've attached a G filter image showing the feature protruding above the SW limb.

http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_04_13cloud.jpg


 Best Wishes

 

Damian PEACH  (Selsey, WS, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars images (April 13th, 2012.)

.Received; 6 May 2012 at 07:01 JST

 

Hi all,
Some very good seeing on this night. Here is a set of RGB images and also a detailed B image i obtained that despite the rapidly dwindling apparent diameter showing some delicate cloud structures across the disk. The
Olympus cloud appears brilliant.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120413/DPc13Apr12.jpg
 
http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_04_13rgb.jpg
http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_04_13blue.jpg

 Best Wishes

 

Damian PEACH  (Selsey, WS, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars - April 28, 2012

.Received; 6 May 2012 at 04:04 JST

 

Mars images April 28, 2012
Average seeing conditions.


 http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120428/FWl28Apr12.jpg

 

Freddy WILLEMS (Waipahu, HI)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Saturn, 4th May

.Received; 5 May 2012 at 15:21 JST

I had some quite good seeing for a while last night, here are two images of Saturn taken about an hour and a half apart. It's interesting to look at the dark grey band in the mid-north hemisphere (top) and see the regularly spaced set of lighter spots that are visible in both images. It seems that they are spaced around a wide range of longitudes.

regards,


Images:
http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/gallery/saturn/20120504-125845/large.jpg
http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/gallery/saturn/20120504-143130/large.jpg

Anthony WESLEY (NSW, AUSTRALIA)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars - April 27, 2012

.Received; 5 May 2012 at 15:11 JST

 

My Mars images in variable seeing conditions.


Still working on a backlog...


 http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120427/FWl27Apr12.jpg

 

Freddy WILLEMS (Waipahu, HI)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Saturn 2012-05-04, 00:51:46 UT

.Received; 5 May 2012 at 05:36 JST

 

Hi all,
here my Saturnimage captured under misty conditions. Only 2 of 6 sequences had a huge gap to capture all the colour sequences...

15 fps @ 1/15 s exposertime, Gain 1000, 40% used.

Cheers

Silvia KOWOLLIK (Ludwigsburg, GERMANY)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Saturn 2012.05.02

.Received; 5 May 2012 at 02:00 JST

 

Dears,
Saturn under degrading seeing:


http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/s20120502-MDe.jpg
By pushing the processing, some spots could be guessed in NTrZ and NEB.

A montage in R+IR with from left to right Tethys, Saturn, Dione, Enceladus :
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/s20120502_rir_satellites_small.jpg
Same with Saturn in LRGB:
http://www.astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/s20120502_lrgb_satellites_small.jpg

Sincerely,

Marc DELCROIX (Tournefeuille, FRANCE)
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 2012/05/03

.Received; 4 May 2012 at 19:14 JST

 

Hello,

Here is Mars on 2012/05/03.
 
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120503/JPp03May12.jpg


The seeing was bad.
The transparency was fair.

Regards

Jean-Jacques POUPEAU   (Essonne, France)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 25 April 2012 - Protrusion Animation

.Received; 4 May 2012 at 09:49 JST

 

Dear Masami,

Sorry to send you yet another animated GIF of the protrusion, but I noticed the last GIF I sent had some problems when being displayed with Apple Safari on some mobile devices.  I have fixed those problems and I also enhanced the frames slightly to improve the visibility of the protrusion.  I also added the central meridian data for each frame for convenience. You may replace the original one I sent with this new one. 

I had some problems with some of the color frames so I am afraid I will not be able to send you a color version of the animation as I promised.

Thank you for your help. Just let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

 

Bill FLANAGAN   (Houston, TX)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Saturn 1st May

.Received; 4 May 2012 at 08:22 JST

 

Hi all,

 

Some decent seeing even at 32° altitude last night. Saturn resized 1.5x, just about resolved Enke's division. couldn't resolve any storm features though.

 

best regards

 

Peter EDWARDS (Horsham, WS, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 1-May-2012

.Received; 4 May 2012 at 07:31 JST

 

Hi Guys we had a rare clear break from these April / May showers, with a bit of useful seeing too. Image is x 240% as it was taken at my "SATURN "mag which is set up nicely just now but a bit less than previous Mars captures.

 http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120501/DTy01May12.jpg

 

 Dropping down hopefully to Saturn at 21 degrees lower, at 28degs alt., proved to be futile as the seeing was just plain ugly ! I was soon put out of my misery by "those clouds" that just form rather than arrive.

 

Best wishes

 

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

 

          

¤·····Subject: Mars image (April 5th, 2012.)

.Received; 4 May 2012 at 04:18 JST

 

Hi all,

Here is an image from the 5th in fair seeing. Similar view to the previous night though seeing wasn't quite as good.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120405/DPc05Apr12.jpg
http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_04_05rgb.jpg

Best Wishes

 

Damian PEACH  (Selsey, WS, the UK)

 

 

 

¤·····Subject: Yesterday's Cassini Flybys of Enceladus and Dione

.Received; 4 May 2012 at 04:04 JST

 

May 3, 2012
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Yesterday, Cassini successfully completed it last close flybys of
Enceladus and Dione for the next three years.  Cassini flew within 50
miles of the south polar surface of Enceladus to allow a measure of the
gravitational signature of that region ... information that will be
vital in deducing (or not) the presence of a  body of liquid water, the
`holy grail' and source of fascination of this moon, buried beneath its
south pole.  And we imaging scientists caught the last, really good look
that we'll ever get in this mission of the jets erupting from the
prominent fractures crossing the polar cap.  With the advent of winter
in a few years, Enceladus' south pole is rushing headlong into darkness
and soon the jets will no longer be visible.

As for Dione, the bounty of images collected yesterday, some with
details as small as 175 feet, is utterly spectacular.

Visit  ...
http://www.ciclops.org/view_event/173/Enceladus_and_Dione_Rev_165_Raw_Preview

... and see for yourself.

Now, we're on target for a May 22 flyby of Titan that will pitch us
poleward, out of the equatorplane into significantly inclined orbits,
for 3 years' viewing of the rings and the polar regions of the planet.

As I've said for years now, this is exploration at its finest.  It won't
continue forever.  So, enjoy it while it lasts!

Best,

Carolyn PORCO  (Cassini Imaging Team Leader)
Director, CICLOPS
Boulder, CO

http://ciclops.org
http://twitter.com/carolynporco
http://www.facebook.com/carolynporco

PS.  To unsubscribe from this list, go to the right hand column of the
CICLOPS home page (
http://ciclops.org ) and find and click the
[Unsubscribe] link

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 2012.05.02

.Received; 4 May 2012 at 01:18 JST

 

Mars correct conditions last night, with my setup fixed and working:
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120502/MDc02May12.jpg
http://astrosurf.com/delcroix/images/planches/m20120502-MDe.jpg

Bluish clouds are rising on the equator...

Sincerely,
 

Marc DELCROIX (Tournefeuille, FRANCE)

http://astrosurf.com/delcroix

 

 

¤·····Subject: solar images 30April 2012 inc Flare

.Received; 3 May 2012 at 19:50 JST

 

Hi Guys This was an interesting morning, with a flare taking place in AR 1471, and two coronal loop prominences, I imaged the larger one only.

 

The flare animation is 9 frames and runs from 10:27 to 10:36ut

 

Coronado scope DS90

 

 

Best wishes

 

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars from 10th April

.Received; 3 May 2012 at 07:44 JST

 

Hi,

Here is my last Mars of the apparition, in moderately poor seeing on 10th April. 

 Hope to put a Mars albedo map together for this apparition in due course.

 

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120410/MLw10Apr12.jpg

 

All the best,

 

Martin LEWIS (St Albans, UK)

www.skyinspector.co.uk

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars image (April 4th, 2012.)

.Received; 3 May 2012 at 06:29 JST

 

Here is an image from April 4th in good seeing. Syrtis Major is prominent covered in clouds. Elysium is also bright with clouds. A weak and irregular ECB crosses the disk.


http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120404/DPc04Apr12.jpg
http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_04_04rgb.jpg

Best Wishes

 

Damian PEACH  (Selsey, WS, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Drawings of Mars

.Received; 2 May 2012 at 21:16 JST

 

Dear Dr. Minami, Christophe,

I have downloaded a new driver software from the site of the maker for my scanner, and now it works out well, so I am attaching here my latest drawings of Mars which I could finally take after almost whole a month(!) of depressive weather.
 The red planet has shrunk a bit, but the gradual darkening along the dawn terminator gives a fantastic 3D-like shadowed spherical appearance (I just like it!).
 I'd like to direct you, Christophe, a naive question: “Is Hellas presently frosty?  or cloudy or both?” …Lately Hellas looks dim in the morning along the terminator, then it seems to be getting brighter as it proceeding easterly to be most bright near the evening limb…How come it goes like that?
 …Is it just an influence of the illumination/terminator-darkening?  Or is it related to the daily repeated cloud formation over the area? …With our instruments' spatial resolution for the smaller apparent size of Mars, is it possible to tell what is covering Hellas, ice crystal cloud? or a thin coat of frost? (visually/including observing well-balanced RGB images, or by analyzing IR,R,G,B,UV components' findings).

 

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120428/Kn28Apr12.jpg

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120425/Kn25Apr12.jpg

 


  Good Health/Weather/Seeing!


  
Reiichi KONNAÏ  (Fukushima, JAPAN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 26 April

.Received; 2 May 2012 at 08:36 JST

 

Hi All,
I have attached some RGB and UV Mars images from 26 April.
The orographic cloud over Arsia Mons was not visible, although the
clouds over the other great volcanoes were fairly  prominent. During
southern late spring and summer, the Arsia cloud is often the first
to appear and is very prominent -- as in the 2003 apparition.
The NPC was tiny with the outliers Lemuria (Olympia) and Ierne still visible.

 

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120426/DPk26Apr12.jpg


Best,

 

Don PARKER  (Coral Gables, FL)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 25 April 2012

.Received; 2 May 2012 at 06:43 JST

 

 

Dear Masami,

I have attached a set of images of Mars from 25 April.  The images show bright clouds over Olympus Mons and the Tharsis Range.  Also there appears to be a protrusion on the morning limb around Longitude 213W and Latitude 44S at a location very near the earlier protrusion reported by Wayne Jaeschke back on March 20th of this year. 

 I have also attached an animated GIF that shows how the protrusion was consistent in luminance frames taken over a period of 19 minutes. I boosted gamma to a value of 2.5 on the four frames that make up the animation to enhance the visibility of the
protrusion on the morning terminator.


http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120425/WFl25Apr12.jpg


Please give my regards to Masatsugu. Tell him that he has been in my
thoughts lately and I am hoping that he is making some progress with his
recovery.  I think back many times to the wonderful trip to Paris/Meudon in
2009 for the IWCMO Conference and how much I enjoyed meeting him there.

Sincerely,

Bill FLANAGAN    (Houston, TX)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars images (April 2nd, 2012.)

.Received; 2 May 2012 at 03:41 JST

 

Hi all,

An image from the 2nd. Rather poor conditions.


http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120402/DPc02Apr12.jpg
http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_04_02rgb.jpg

Best Wishes

 

Damian PEACH  (Selsey, WS, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars images (April 1st, 2012.)

.Received; 1 May 2012 at 23:11 JST

 

Hi all,

Some belated images from April 1st. Seeing was very good.
Hellas looks brilliant with a notable weak equatorial cloud band across the disk.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120401/DPc01Apr12.jpg
http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_04_01rgb.jpg

This set makes a great comparison with and image set obtained exactly one month before in excellent seeing:
http://www.damianpeach.com/mars1112/2012_03_01rgbs.jpg

Note how
Hellas only had a few wispy clouds over it the month before. NPC is also larger with no rift visible. Also interesting how much difference the extra 1.4" of diameter makes to the image scale and resolution.

Best Wishes

 

Damian PEACH  (Selsey, WS, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars: April 30, 2012

.Received; 1 May 2012 at 13:38 JST

 

Hi -

  I have attached my latest image of Mars April 30, 2012 to be posted.

 

 http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120430/FMl30Apr12.jpg

 

   Thanks,

 

Frank J MELILLO (Holtsville, NY)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Re: My situation

.Received; 30 April 2012 at 20:44 JST

 

Dear Masatsugu,
I'm happy to receive this notice from you. We all hope that you're going
to keep on observing and analysing the red planet.
I will do what I can to help the publication of the ISMO !
All the best

Christophe PELLIER (Nantes, FRANCE)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Re: My situation

.Received; 30 April 2012 at 09:43 JST

 

Dear Masatsugu,
  The suddenness of this illness concerns me, since usually Parkinson's
onset is more gradual. Perhaps more subtle symptoms have been present for
awhile, but you have seemed to be well.
  My sympathies go out to you in this difficult time.
  As for the CMO/ISMO--I do hope we will all be able to keep it going.
However, you have been the heart and soul of it, so it will be no easy task.
 I still hope for your complete recovery.


   Best,

 

Bill SHEEHAN (Willmar, MN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: mars 28 april.

Received; 30 April 2012 at 09:16 JST

 

Hi

 

Total poor seeing &  SPRING condition  so was that.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120428/SGh28Apr12.jpg

 

Best Wishes,

 

Sadegh GHOMIZADEH  (Tehran, IRAN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: mars 27 April.

Received; 29 April 2012 at 03:06 JST

 

Hi

 Poor seeing & bad condition . ,anyway you can see north east Airy crater & Cassini crater & vest Syrtis Major.

 PLS see you it.

  http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120427/SGh27Apr12.jpg

 

Best Wishes,

 

Sadegh GHOMIZADEH  (Tehran, IRAN)

 

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars 24th-April-2012

Received; 27 April 2012 at 02:37 JST

 

Hi Guys I was nice to see an imagable Mars this evening. I just love these blue mists  

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120424/DTy24Apr12.jpg

 

Best wishes

 

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars, 25 April

Received; 26 April 2012 at 23:19 JST

 

Hi,

Obtained this image last evening under less than ideal conditions, thickening Cirrus, misty and twilight. Summer is clearly approaching with bright nights, but seeing is also generally improving. Will keep on going at dusk for the remainder of the Mars season to catch the planet as high as possible.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120425/JWr25Apr12.jpg


All the best,

Johan WARELL  (Skivarp, SWEDEN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: solar images 20-April-2012

Received; 26 April 2012 at 06:45 JST

 

Hi Guys

 

Here are a few of the active regions from the 20th  The off band Ha images are showing spot detail similar to a white light wedge image.

 

 

 

Best wishes

 

www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE

Dave TYLER (Bucks, the UK)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars - April 20th, 01:21ut

Received; 25 April 2012 at 14:41 JST

 

Hi Mr. Murakami, Here I submit  my latest session from the 20th of april under average conditions, Clear Skies.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120420/EMr20Apr12.jpg

 

Efrain MORALES RIVERA (Aguadilla, PUERTO RICO)

 

 

¤·····Subject: mars 22.apr.

Received; 25 April 2012 at 10:32 JST

 

Hi

 

Very poor seeing & variable condition .

  http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120422/SGh22Apr12.jpg

 

Best Wishes,

 

Sadegh GHOMIZADEH  (Tehran, IRAN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars image 21, 22 April

Received; 25 April 2012 at 07:35 JST

 

Hi all

 

  I attach mars image on 21, 22 April 2011.

 http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120421/Ak21Apr12.jpg

 http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120422/Ak22Apr12.jpg

 

Best Wishes

 

Tomio AKUTSU (Cebu, the PHILIPPINES)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars on 19, 22, 23 April

Received; 25 April 2012 at 05:47 JST

 

Dear friends,

Three more dates of the red planet with increasingly better seeing. The one taken last night April 23 was obtained in excellent conditions and shows Arsia, Pavonis, Ascraeus and Olympus Mons as darks spots peeking through the widespread morning cloud deck. Very similar to a month ago. North-south trending dust streak through Niliacus Lacus or an image artifact? Can't decide, but it's visible on another image obtained six minutes later. No obvious image artifacts on these images that I can detect.

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120419/JWr19Apr12.jpg

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120422/JWr22Apr12.jpg

http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120423/JWr23Apr12.jpg
All the best,

Johan WARELL  (Skivarp, SWEDEN)

 

 

¤·····Subject: Mars with Olympus Mons 21-Apr-2012

Received; 24 April 2012 at 18:34 JST

 

Hi all,

Here's an image from Saturday night with Olympus Mons jutting through
the clouds.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2011/120421/ISp21Apr12.jpg


Also, I've recently launched a new-look website (at my usual
astro-sharp.com url). Image in the top blog entry here:

http://astro-sharp.com

Best Regards

 

Ian SHARP (Ham, WS, the UK)

 


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