From
Frank J MELILLO
@. .
. . . . While we are waiting for the upcoming
Mars apparition 2001, here are my latest ultraviolet images of Venus on Dec. 26th,
2000. Venus is quite active with dusty markings in the upper
atmosphere. It is just as exciting as taken images of Jupiter and even Mars. At
Venus, you don't know what to expect when doing the ultraviolet light imaging
Pretty soon, I should start imaging Mars
whatever the weather permits. In fact, we had a foot of snow here today in
It
will be hard to travel around for a couple of days. Meanwhile, I want to wish
everybody a Happy New Year 2001 and looking forward for an excellent year of
Mars observing!
(
(
Attached to this e-mail, you will see Uranus
images in white light and in methane light. For one night, there was
a +7.4 magnitude star in the field with Uranus. I used this star to
compare with Uranus' brightness. For three hours of imaging in methane light,
Uranus had rotated 1/5 of its way around (if assume at 16-16.5 hrs. rotation
period). I played a short animation and it showed no albedo variations so far.
I have many other nights of imaging Uranus in methane light. Those of you who are interested for more information, e-mail me. This
is a very interesting project for those has a methane
absorption filter. Uranus' polar axis is changing from pole-on (1986) to
edge-on (2007) and that may trigger the weather
patterns and disturbances in the atmosphere. Also, there is a possibility of
the reoccurrence of the belts and zones. The best way to spot
these are in the light of methane to increase the contrast. Now it is a
good chance to search and witness these phenomena as Uranus is heading for the
upcoming edge-on presentation in 2007.
Regards,
(
Frank J MELILLO (NY,