LtE in CMO #240
From
Sam
@. . . . . . Thank you for CMO 239. I
especially enjoyed the Mars drawings and CCD images, the analysis of the white
cloud on the evening Syrtis Major also.
I have attempted to observe Mars
on seven occasions, but the seeing has always been poor at best, terrible at 
times, with Mars rather resembling Mercury in the boiling
atmosphere. Part of the problem no doubt comes from warm air rising from my
neighbors chimneys. At the RAS observatory a similar problem occurs because a
small shopping mall is immediately south of the observatory, and warm air rises
from it. When Mars is at its best and in the evening sky, this latter problem
will be even worse.
December and January were unusually cold
here, although we did not receive any large accumulation of snow. The average
daytime temperature was barely above freezing. My snowdrops, which usually
bloom around Christmas, bloomed on January 23, and the first daffodil foliage,
which usually emerges in November, emerged in February. Crocuses usually bloom
in January, but this year the first one bloomed only a few days ago.
Common Snowdrop
(Ganthus nivalis
L)
I will try to send you some good
observations soon. Sincerely,
(10 February 2001 email)
Samuel