Solar
& Planetary LtE Now for CMO/ISMO #71 (CMO
#445)
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necessarily cited in the PDF’s CMO LtE
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The latest is at the top
¤····Subject: North
Polar Spiral Cloud
Received:
Dear all,
Attached here is the latest image by the ESA's Mars Express Visual Monitoring
Camera showing a northern summer north polar cloud fronts with a large
wine-color eye, though the spiral structure is vague.
Note also the two lighter projections just off the dawn terminator (blue arrows).
Probe images with this type of angle are very informative, showing the zone of
critical dawn hours where significant meteorological phenomena can occur.
Best,
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤····Subject: Solar
images to 12th-Mar-2016
Received:
Hi Guys
We had a fair bit of
sunshine this week, with very variable seeing, but there were some usable
moments in there somewhere. It was mainly about AR 2513 and AR2519 neither that
spectacular in white light, but they certainly stirred up the plasma !
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks, the
www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE
¤····Subject: Mars,
13th March IR
Received:
One more image - Mars
through a 750nm longpass filter, showing the surface features a little more
clearly.
cheers,
Link:
http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/gallery/mars/20160313-184044/m20160313-184044utc.png
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160313/AWs13Mar16.jpg
Anthony WESLEY (NSW, AUSTRALIA)
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/03/14 0154UT
Received:
Hi all,
Another patch of poor
weather over the last week, and it looks like it may continue. I took a chance
on getting up early and managed to squeeze in a few captures between cloud,
before being clouded out totally. In the circumstances, I dropped back to the
2x powermate. Other than NP, Tharsis and equatorial cloud, some cloud also
noted over high southern latitudes.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160314/CFs14Mar16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars,
13th March
Received:
Seeing was a little better
this morning, good enough for a colour RGB image.
Some equatorial clouds can be seen as well as a number of surface features.
Link:
http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/gallery/mars/20160313-184724/m20160313-184724utc.png
cheers,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160313/AWs13Mar16.jpg
Anthony WESLEY (NSW, AUSTRALIA)
¤····Subject: Mars:
Received:
Hi -
I have
attached my latest image of Mars
Thanks,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160312/FMl12Mar16.jpg
Frank J MELILLO (
¤····Subject: RE:
Martian Northern Summer North Polar Spiral Clouds
Received:
Dear Reiichi
I am very sorry to hear of your loss. Although I have not met you personally
yet, I appreciate that these times are never easy. My thoughts and best wishes
are with you.
Thank you for your comments regarding the spiral clouds. I am hoping that I get
better conditions in the next few days, and I will see if there is any activity
visible.
Best regards,
¤····Subject: Martian Northern Summer North Polar Spiral Clouds
Received:
Dear
Thanks a lot for your concern. I am all right, recovering from the loss of a
spouse syndrome.
Northern summer polar
spiral clouds, I think, are probably ephemeral, each one starts early in the
morning and fades away late in the afternoon, means that we may find a new
north polar spiral cloud every Martian day. The shape and the scale of the
cloud may change from day to day；attached here is the
one captured on 09 March 2016 by the Mars Express' Visual Monitoring Camera
which can be classified as "Level 2(eye(s)filled in)" of Christophe
PELLIER's classification of the observed activity of the cloud fronts. Please
refer to the Christophe's note: Cloud fronts on Mars in northern summer：activity observed in 2014 ISMO 2013/14 Mars Note (#02) CMO#429 25 Dec. 2014
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmomn4/CMO429.pdf
Hoping
your Big Guns will soon capture the polar spiral clouds,
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤····Subject: Mo02 07 11Mar_16
Received:
Mars Images on 2, 7,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160311/Mo11Mar16.jpg
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160307/Mo07Mar16.jpg
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160302/Mo02Mar16.jpg
Yukio MORITA (
¤····Subject: Mars images, 13 March 2016
Received:
Hi all,
Quite correct seeing this morning on Mars. Orographic cloud over Olympus Mons.
http://www.astrosurf.com/pellier/M2016_03_13-CPE
Regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160313/CPl13Mar16.jpg
Planetary astronomy
and imaging
¤····Subject: North Polar Spiral cloud
Received:
Dear Reiichi,
I hope you are well.
Thank you for your recent image and comments on the CMO LTE regarding the
North Polar Spiral Cloud. I believe this area will be rotating into view for me
in the next few days. Unfortunately we are experiencing another period of bad
weather in my area, although we do definitely need the rain! How long lasting
are these clouds normally? ie are they fairly short lived, or do they last for
an extended time period?
Best regards,
¤····Subject: Mars 12th March, time correction
Received:
My earlier Mars image
had a completely wrong time and date on the image the script I use for this was
out of date and didn't read the winjupos timestamp properly.
Here is the corrected image with the appropriate date and time.
cheers, Anthony
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160312/AWs12Mar16.jpg
http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/gallery/mars/20160312-190506/m20160312-190506utc.png
----------------------------------------------------
Subject: Mars, 12th March
Sent:
Hi all, here is an image of Mars from this morning (March 12 UT)
through
an IR750nm filter. There is an interesting bright streak visible near
the left (following) limb
regards, Anthony
ps please let me know if this list is not up to date, this is the first
use of it since the Mars appartition in 2014.
Anthony WESLEY (NSW, AUSTRALIA)
¤····Subject:
Received:
Dear all,
Please find attached the image of the well-developed north polar spiral cloud,
one of the northern summer staples, captured by the Mars Express Visual
Monitoring Camera/ESA.
Best,
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤····Subject:
Received:
Hi all,
Here are some images of the double transit taken under fair seeing. These are
some of my very first images with the ASI224MC, and the setting of the
equipment is not yet settled...
http://www.astrosurf.com/pellier/j2016-03-08_01-38_rgb_cp
http://www.astrosurf.com/pellier/j2016-03-08_01-54_ir_cp
Best
wishes,
Christophe PELLIER (
Planetary astronomy
and imaging
¤····Subject:
Received:
Hi Guys
Scraping the bottom
of the barrel as far as sunspots go, but at least a decent but faint prominence
came up for grabs on the 6th. It took about 4 attempts to get a lucky cloud gap
big enough for a full length imaging run before the blue stuff disappeared
altogether. Seeing was less then fair with granulation being seen only by
autostakkert. Ha activity was quite spectacular.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks, the
www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE
¤····Subject:
Received:
attached this
morning's sketch, conditions unfavorable for imaging.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160306/DFl06Mar16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
-
Received:
Dear Masatsugu and
Masami,
Attached is a set of Mars images from 4 March.
Looks like I'm in for
some cloudy skies and rain over the next week but hopefully the weather will
improve soon after that.
Best wishes,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160304/WFl04Mar16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/03/06 0236UT
Received:
Hi, all
Mars capture from
this morning.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160306/CFs06Mar16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
- Feb.29th, March
Received:
Hi Mr. Minami and
All!, Here are my most recent sessions from feb. 29th and march 1st, my latest
session of jupiter from march 3rd also.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160301/EMr01Mar16.jpg
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160229/EMr29Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/03/05 0202UT
Received:
Hi all,
Mars capture from
this morning, with Elysium region bright and prominent. Gale crater
"outcrop" visible? Conditions reasonable, although the contrast arc
was quite bad- please be wary of interpretation of limb detail.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160305/CFs05Mar16.jpg
¤····Subject: SOLAR
IMAGES TO
Received:
Hi Guys this
selection of solar antics clears my backlog. Some days of useful seeing, I say useful
when I can glimpse the convection cells amid the turbulence at 126 inch efl on
the ZWO ASI120’s little pixels, with my vintage AP178T.
best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks, the
www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/03/03 0245UT
Received:
Hi all,
Mars IR capture from
this morning. I am not sure what has happened, but I seem to have picked up a
problem with the colour on my ASI224MC, so am not in a position to submit a
colour image today. I will try and resolve as a matter of urgency.
Contrast arc/rind
note: I also attach a sharpened image where I have not removed the contrast
arc. On my last imaging session (1 March), towards the end of the session I
slewed the scope to the other side of the mount, as Mars is approaching the
meridian during the early morning sessions. Unfortunately the camera cable came
under tension and pulled out of the camera(I hadn't had a cup of coffee yet….).
I am not sure if the camera was damaged somehow, hence the colour problem this
morning? However, note that the contrast arc this morning is very evident in
the IR image, but is OUTSIDE the limb. The inside of the limb appears good, and
unaffected by contrast arc, although the limb itself is maybe not as sharp as
usual. This is obviously a much more favourable situation to deal with as it is
easy to remove, and does not influence the detail on the planet. The factors
that I can think of that have changed:
a) The scope was
swung across to the other side of the mount , so the orientation of the main
optical train has also swung over?
b) Mirror flop?
However, I do keep the mirror locked as I use an electric focuser.
c) I flipped the X
and Y axes in Firecapture to keep my normal orientation on the screen. However,
this should not impact on the arc in any way?
d) When I slewed
across and the cable came under tension, I am aware that I have some very small
play in the imaging train. ie from the rear mount on the scope, the barlow and
the filterwheel. It is possible that the alignment of this imaging train was
adjusted slightly with the tension. The camera is screwed firmly into the
filterwheel, so there is no play there.
Any comments on this
are welcome(Martin, Roger, Jim?). I go along with the diffraction theory as
proposed, but I think this may also hint at optical alignment as a factor?
Either way, this, in my mind, is a better situation to deal with compared with
the inner arc.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160303/CFs03Mar16.jpg
¤····Subject: solar
images to
Received:
Hi Guys
Clearing a backlog of
images from 14th to 25th Feb with more to come from the end of Feb. Some days
of fairly nice seeing.
I notice the spots are
generally nearer the equator now, indicating the approaching minimum.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks, the
www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE
¤····Subject: Mars
images
Received:
Dear Sirs,
Please find the attached Mars image set from
Taken in poor seeing.
The image is poor but it is amazing what AutoStakkert can extract from what I
considered a hopeless set of AVI's.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160301/MJs01Mar16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars -
Received:
Dear Masatsugu and
Masami,
Attached is a set of Mars images I took from my backyard on 27 February.
The seeing was not
very good that night and with Mars lower in the sky this year, I only have
about 30 minutes to acquire images of Mars as it peeks through a hole in the
tree line when it crosses the meridian.
I hope to be able to contribute more images as this year's apparition
continues.
Best wishes,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160227/WFl27Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/03/01 0248UT
Received:
Hi all,
Mars capture from
this morning.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160301/CFs01Mar16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/02/29 0214UT
Received:
Hi all,
Mars capture from
this morning with conditions a bit improved.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160229/CFs29Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Fwd:
Mars images
Received:
Dear Sirs,
Just checking if perhaps the following email was lost, as can happen.
Best regards,
-------- Original Message
--------
Subject: Mars images
Date:
Dear Sirs,
Please find the attached Mars image set from
Taken in fair seeing through the less dense gaps in cloud.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160221/MJs21Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/02/27 0313UT
Received:
Hi all,
The real advantage of
the ASI1224MC colour camera really comes into its own during the rather poor
weather conditions we are currently having(extending over the last week or so)
in my area. Often there is only a window of a few minutes to capture one or two
avis, before conditions cloud over or deteriorate(I had very heavy dew
conditions this morning). Once we move into autumn and closer to opposition I
am expecting(at least hoping) conditions will settle. I will then definitely consider
some RGB imaging with the ASI174MM or ASI120MM.
Again, the image set
from this morning is somewhat limited in fine detail. The brilliant white
ice/cloud in or over the
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160227/CFs27Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Northern
Summer Polar Spiral Clouds
Received:
Dear All,
Now the Martian season is reaching λ=116゜Ls；Yes, we can expect the seasonal first emergence of the north polar
cyclones (or “the northern polar spiral clouds” or “the northern summer cloud
fronts” a la Christophe PELLIER). Better refer to Christophe’s excellent notes：
A Pre-Polar Spiral Cloud at Early Northern Summer (ISMO 11/12 Mars Note (15))
CMO#412 25 July 2013
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmomn4/CMO412.pdf
Cloud-fronts
Activity on Mars in Northern Summer：A General Overview (
ISMO 2013/14 Mars Note (#01) CMO#428 25 Nov. 2014
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmomn4/CMO428.pdf
Cloud
fronts on Mars in northern summer：activity observed in
2014 ISMO 2013/14 Mars Note (#02) CMO#429 25 Dec. 2014
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmomn4/CMO429.pdf
Northern
summer polar spiral clouds are known to be most active when they appear on the
dawn terminator, then they thin and degrade with the passing time to leave
only remnants in the late afternoon, so we should say it’s rather
unfavorable for us now to detect the spiral clouds, because the morning
terminator is over farside of the western limb. Please find attached a montage
with this apparition’s possible very early detection by the MRO MARCI of the
arc-shaped afternoon remnants of the northern summer polar cloud front at
λ=110゜Ls compared with the 2014 apparition ones.
Good Seeing!
Reiichi KONNAÏ (
¤····Subject: Mars -
February 23rd
Received:
Hi Mr. Minami and
All!,
Here is my latest
observation of Mars on february 23rd and of Saturn.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160223/EMr23Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/02/26 0247UT
Received:
Hi all,
I have been
frustrated the last few mornings with total cloud cover. This morning cloud
cover was also extensive. However there was a small gap where I managed to
obtain one colour and one IR capture. Detail is poor, but the brilliant while
cloud/ice in or over the
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160226/CFs26Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Jupiter
2015-02-25
Received:
Hi All,
Haven't posted a planet image for a
while! Last night gave some reasonably stable planetary conditions with the
loss of the jet stream over the
Best regards,
Pete LAWRENCE (Selsey, WS, the
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/02/25
Received:
Hello,
Here is Mars on 2016/02/25
The seeing was very bad and the transparency was average.
The planet was only 23° elevation.
T = -0.2°C
Regards
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160225/JPp25Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/02/22 0314UT
Received:
Hi all,
Ongoing poor predawn
seeing conditions on 22 Feb, but submitting "for the record".
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160222/CFs22Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/02/21 0257UT
Received:
Hi all,
Up early to see if I could
get a bit better seeing conditions but unfortunately still mediocre conditions.
Attached 2 image sets, with conditions deteriorating further towards dawn.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160221/CFs21Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: A
Drawing of Mars
Received:
Dear all,
I am back at the red planet again! Mars is still fantastic, pleasing to my
eyes. Attached here is my first drawing of Mars in this apparition. My new
weapon, Mead's 40cm SCT seems to be great in optical performance.
Good Seeing with excellent telescopes!
P.S Also attaching a
snap of my new 40cm SCT ("A Wiring Inferno" with the anti-fog
heaters, etc.)
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160218/Kn18Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
- February 19th
Received:
Hi Mr. Minami and
All!,
Here is my latest session
of Mars from february 19th and a session of the ring planet Saturn after my
Mars session on the 19th.
Clear Skies.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160219/EMr19Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/02/20 0247UT
Received:
Hi all,
A capture of Mars
from this morning, with the planet now at 8" diameter.
A few notes:
a) When initially looking
at the live image on my screen, I was again of the impression that the
seeing conditions were poor. The main albedo features were not particularly
clear and the bright limb was seen to be "shaking" substantially.
b) I was therefore pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the
final image. I am taken a number of captures(when time allows), processing and
then selecting the best for further processing. With seeing conditions poor, I
am getting quite a range of quality after initial processing and discarding the
majority.
c) Even the live image on screen indicated fairly bright cloud
over the Chryse equatorial region. This hasn’t come out very clearly in the
colour image, but can be seen to some extent in the blue image.
d) The following(right )limb remains exceptionally bright,
probably indicating extensive cloud over the Tharsis region?
e) Nice, distinct equatorial cloud is seen over the
preceding(eastern- please correct me if I have this wrong) side of the
f) Some finer albedo detail is showing on the southern and
following(western) regions of
g) Interesting bright region just south of the NPC which seems to
be brightest in the red channel. Would this be dust deposits at the the edge of
the NPC?
h) There seems to be fairly extensive cloud activity at the
southern extremity of Mars. I am not sure if this is due to the
i) Probably one of my nicer images for the apparition so far,
given the current conditions, but I am really hoping for better seeing
conditions as we move closer to opposition.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160220/CFs20Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Mars
- February 17th
Received:
Hi Mr. Minami and
All!,
Here is my most
recent session of Mars on february 17th but under below average conditions low in
elevation.
Here is Jupiter and
the moon Ganymede transiting before my session with Mars,
Clear Skies.
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160217/EMr17Feb16.jpg
¤····Subject: Solar
Images
Received:
Hi Guys
At last some decent
seeing, even at the humble altitude of 23 degrees. The live feed from the
ZWOASI120 showed fleeting views of the convection cells, enough for
Autostakkert to work its magic.
Best wishes
Dave TYLER (Bucks, the
www.david-tyler.com
Ham call G4PIE
¤····Subject: Mars
2016/02/17 0318UT
Received:
Hi all,
Mars capture from
this morning. Elevation wise, Mars is beautifully placed in the predawn sky,
but seeing conditions were poor, which I am starting believe has a significant
impact on the bright limb contrast arc.
Best regards,
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmons/2016/160217/CFs17Feb16.jpg
