27 July (λ=230ﾟLs) : Seen from around ω=140ﾟW, the spc is exactly divided into halves; the brighter part (preceding) and shadowy one (following). The shadowy area is expected to thaw rapidly away (at λ=237ﾟLs according to VO-2). At present it shows still a series of bright ice beads at the periphery, and it is still observed that they make a cascade into the wine-coloured outer fringe. Especially one of brighter ices at around Ω=210ﾟW was very active until yesterday, but today it lessened its brightness and looked just smaller and protruding. Water condensate w/ airborne dust will continue to be supplied until the cascade ceases. Uniform obscuration thus has increased and the gradation has decreased. Now Solis L begins to fade away into the evening mist from our hemisphere.
24 July (λ=227ﾟLs) : Olympus Mons came into our sight from yesterday, and ISHADOH and MINAMI watched its summit as a distinct "dark spot" to go out from the terminator.
22 July : VALIMBERTI pointed out that his ToUcam image on 20 July (λ=225ﾟLs) came to show "a very hazy/yellowish morning limb."
20 July : It is interesting to check a trend of the dust streak around Achillis Pons on the excellent images by Paolo LAZZAROTTI made on 15 July (ω=044ﾟW)/16 July (ω=027ﾟW), and 19 July (ω=011ﾟW)/20 July (ω=000ﾟW).
19 July : VALIMBERTI communicated that his image taken on 16 July figured the Terby crater in addition to the Huygens crater.
17 July at Florida :
At the region near the Caribbean Sea, Mars was occulted by the Moon in the early morning hours EDT, and the grazing line went across the Florida Peninsula. Jeff BEISH and Don PARKER joined the team led by Chris STEPHAN, and succeeded in observing the grazing occultation of Mars as seen in our Gallery. See also
http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/2003marsgraze/mars.htm
in which a message by STEPHAN is found as well as a lot of the ccd images (in addition to Jeff's drawing). STEPHAN also reports that he observed the event by naked eyes for the sake of Mitsuru SOMA who studied the historical records of a Mars occultation witnessed in Japan in the 7th century.
14 July (λ=222ﾟLs) : Nothing in particular to report. Looked usual, while watched from ω=242ﾟW to 301ﾟW.
13 July (λ=221ﾟLs) : M Hadriacum remains still devastated. The northern Trinacria is light evident. Yaonis R recovered light, and the eastern Deucalionis R looks slightly lighter, while we hope the widened and darkened M Serpentis will last a bit longer until the area faces towards Europe and America as a monument of the furious dust storm during 4 July - 7 July. The tip of Novus Mons begins to protrude just from the recessing perimeter of the spc.
12 July (λ=220ﾟLs) : It appears that none activates the dust on Noachis any more: Just the dust core at Deucalionis R stays lit. The area is however going away from our view. Instead, the areas of M Hadriacum and M Tyrrhenum that have been much devastated in 2001 are coming into our sight.
11 July at 17:30 GMT (λ=220ﾟLs ω=299ﾟW) : There has been no bright spot on the early morning Noachis and Deucalionis R. However the later seems to have still a dust core. Notable at the evening side is the thickness of condensate/dust now which covers the preceding part of the spc, fading the corresponding dark fringe. This may imply a covering of the spc by airborne dust or the beginning of the partial rapid recession of the cap to make the centre of the spc deviate from the south pole.
11 July at 15:30 GMT (λ=220ﾟLs ω=270ﾟW) : (7th Temporary Report on BEISH's observation on 1 July): After ten days, the same angle of BEISH came toward us: The limb side is thickly covered by the morning white mist over S Sabaeus which is faint.
10 July at 17:30 GMT (λ=219ﾟLs ω=309ﾟW) :
Hellas shows some details; the SE corner and the western-edge swath are
very bright, while the NE corner shadowy. Noachis is not
fully towards us yet, but the configuration of dark areas
and dusts looks grossly the same as yesterday; just the
higher airborne dust looks to have increased, though the
coming S Meridiani is similarly seen as before near the
limb
09 July at 17:30 GMT (λ=218ﾟLs) :
Yaonis Fr is visible with the usual light swath at the west corner in Hellas. However still strum and drunk at Noachis.
It is a good view to see the final stage of the storm in a teacup: The darkening and enlargement of M Serpentis are the result of the furious dust disturbance on 4 July.
07 July : MSSS released (MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-414, 7 July 2003) a mosaic image of two dust disturbances on 29 June near Syrtis Mj in http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/07/07/index.html
07 July at 18:10 GMT (λ=217ﾟLs) : The brighter part of the core didn't expand but became slimmer than yesterday. Even weak disturbances, the longer repeats at Noachis may bring a lot of airborne dusts into the high altitudes. At present however the northern deserts are still reddish. Now the roundish dust area from Hellas and Noachis is going underneath of the evening white mist: This should be produced in the B frame.
07 July at 16:10 GMT (λ=217ﾟLs) : (6th Temporary Report concerning BEISH's observation on 1 July): Watched from 15 hrs GMT (ω=300ﾟW), and S Sabaeus was clearly and totally seen from the outset. Hellas and Noachis were visible evenly. The brighter branch of the dust clouds is on Noachis, but yesterday's fat roundish core shrank to a cudgel-like front (just like in 1956's?). Deucalionis R may have another branch of core. We shall be able to chase until ω=010ﾟW from here this morning.
06 July at 18:00 GMT (λ=217ﾟLs) : ISHADOH and MINAMI estimated the west fornt of the dust patch is at 340~345ﾟW. So no extension, and there is not found any further detached piece.
06 July at 16:10 GMT (λ=217ﾟLs) : (5th Temporary Report concerning BEISH's observation on 1 July): Whole of S Sabaeus is clearly visible, and the front of the dust wave in Noachis looks slightly retreated. ISHADOH and MINAMI thus judged that the dust, though still explicit, has been more diffused than yesterday. A dust core is still seen at Mare Ionium, while the upper Hellas seems to show the surface, and no expansion is found to the northern pinkish desert. Mists are still heavy.
05 July at 17:30 GMT (λ=216ﾟLs) : The big bright swirl of dust at the western Noachis has passed the CM, whose western wave front is sharply defined and located about at Ω=350ﾟW. Note that this is not the direct expansion of yesterday's bright core at the eastern Deucalionis R. Morning and evening mists are quite heavy.
05 July at 15:30 GMT (λ=216ﾟLs) : (4th Temporary Report concerning BEISH's observation on 1 July) : Yesterday's bright core of dust dissipated and S Sabaeus almost recovered, while the western Noachis is governed by a clear crest of dust wave. (Still the planet is low here at Naha and the seeing isn't good yet.)
04 July at 15:10 GMT (λ=215ﾟLs) : (3rd Temporary Remark on BEISH's Observation on 1 July) Clear Dust in Deucalionis Regio: ISHADOH and MINAMI observed at ω=331ﾟ that the eastern half of S Sabaeus was clearly covered out by a dust from Ducalionis R. Western half of S Sabaeus and S Meridiani looked however very darker in a chocolate colour than usual.
03 July (λ=215ﾟLs) : ISHADOH and MINAMI observed that yesterday's condensate near Nilokeras had dissipated already though the surroundings were still misty. Also confirmed by Eric NG.
02 July (λ=214ﾟLs) : A water vapour/dust cloud disturbance was witnessed from Tempe to the lower Xanthe independently by VALIMBERTI (ccd), PAU (ccd), NG (ccd), KUMAMORI (ccd), ISHADOH (visual, 31cm spec) and MINAMI (visual, 25cm spec).
02 July at 16:00 GMT : (2nd Temporary Report concerning BEISH's observation at 9 GMT on 1 July) Still the eastern part of the evening S Sabaeus is deinitely seen from the Orient. So the morning case of BEISH on 1 July must have been thickly covered by the morning white mist; being proved later by Don PARKER's images (received at 20:13 GMT on 1 July) where S Sabaeus is obvious in R but obscure in B. At present the water vapour is quite active, and the surface looks covered globally by white mist, thick or thin.
02 July (λ=214ﾟLs) : λ=214ﾟLs is the very season EBISAWA and DOLLFUS detected a big bar-like yellow cloud from M Serpentis to the upper Hellas on 11 July 1971 at Meudon. EBISAWA noted however that its brilliancy was less than that of the white mist at the morning limb and the nph. This 1971a dust cloud became soon diffused and dissipated by λ=215ﾟLs.
01 July at 15 hrs GMT: (1st Temporary Report concerning BEISH's observation at 9 hrs GMT) Mars has just come above the eastern horizon from Japan, and ISHADO H and MINAMI at Naha have just checked the area of S Sabaeus. The planet is still quite low but both can detect the usual presence of the evening S Sabaeus by the use of a 25 cm spec at 230x as well as a 25cm Meade at 280x. They will soon begin routine observations.
28 June (λ=211ﾟLs): Ed GRAFTON shot clearly the bright Novus Mons inside the spc.
24 June (λ=209ﾟLs): Don PARKER clearly detected the bright Novus Mons (70ﾟS, 299ﾟW) quite inside the spc just as the VO2 extended mission did at λ=183ﾟLs in 1977, and also the Hubble telescope shot it inside the spc in 2001 on 26 June (λ=185ﾟLs).
21 June: The rainy season ended at Okinawa on 21 June, while it has just started in the Japanese mainland, at Kyushu from 9 June, at Kwansai and Kwantoh from 10 June and at Hokuriku from 11 June, and it is expected the rainy days continue up until the end of July. At Okinawa it started earlier on 14 May.
14 June: Recent photos of Tom CAVE's Observatory have been posted by Larry ADKINS who talked to Tom only three weeks before his death:
http://www.cerritos.edu/ladkins/Cave/thomas_cave_observatory.htm
Refer also to Obituary given by Tom DOBBINS:
http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_974_1.asp
10 June: MER Spirit was successively launched from Cape Canaveral on 10 June at 17:59 GMT. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/newsroom/pressreleases/20030610a.html
9 June: Phil HARRINGTON gave a memorial profile of Thomas Roland CAVE III in http://www.astronomy.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/001/371sejig.asp
6 June We are shocked to receive from Jeff BEISH, Sam WHITBY & Dave MOORE the news of the passing away of Tom CAVE on 4 June. We also miss him. May he rest in peace!
In 1997, CMO #198 described him in:
http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~cmo/cmo/198/cave.html
5 June (λ=198ﾟLs): Don PARKER showed Olympus Mons was free from the roll cloud now in conformity with SMITH and SMITH's pattern. The Tharsis ridge is however still active as usual.
4 June (λ=197ﾟLs): Eric NG imaged an ocherous segment inside the spc along the water ice periphery. See also D MOORE's on 4 June, and T KUMAMORI's on 1 June.
03 June: Mars Express was successfully launched from Baikonur at 17:45 GMT and is en route for the red planet.
02 June (λ=196ﾟLs): Eric NG proved the spc's central shadowy area, receiving the insolation all day long, showed a tinge of ocher.
2 June: Jeff BEISH informed us of the MOC site:
http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/06/02/index.html
29 May (λ=194ﾟLs): VALIMBERTI pointed out a dust streak whose basis is filled inside Eos Chasma. NG followed.
28 May (λ=193ﾟLs): AKUTSU and MORITA followed to show that the eastern part of M Erythraeum was devastated.
24 May (λ=191ﾟLs): The Syria disturbance was still seen on 23 June while dissipated by 24 June (VALIMBERTI, KUMAMORI, PAU, NG, TAN, MORITA et al)
21 May (λ=189ﾟLs): KUMAMORI (ccd) and MINAMI (visual) detected a local dust disturbance at Syria Planum.
20 May (λ=188ﾟLs): Don PARKER shot out Rima Australis as well as (possibly) Novus Mons inside the spc.
15 May (λ=185ﾟLs): Don PARKER showed that the eastern part of M Erythraeum was devastated.