From William SHEEHAN
@. . . . . . . . . Sent:
Subject:
Dear Masatsugu,
I don't know how closely you've examined the Mars
Odyssey X-ray spectrometer map of epithermal neutrons yet -- the web site is
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0203 →nmars odyssey
full.jpg
(note the
slopover line isn't intentional)
The blue areas are those where there's supposed to
be water-ice near the surface, and the largest concentrations are around the
South Pole. There's also a good-sized
patch in the Vastitas Borealis area, which is no surprise since geologists for
a long time have conjectured that an old Martian sea once sat here.
What intrigues me, though -- and you'll have to play
around with the orientation a bit, because the map is perversely centered at
180 degrees of longitude -- are the blue patches in the subequatorial region.
There are several patches of blue that
circumnavigate the location of Schiaparelli crater, with the largest located
just at the equator and at longitude 330 degrees. There's also a little patch at about 150
degrees longitude; this one lies just south of the equator, in the desert
region that lies north of Mare Sirenum
in terms of topographical reference points.
The association of several equatorial blue patches
with the Edom Prom area generally is what intrigues me -- and leads me to
propose we might put out a 2003 ephemeris for flash phenomena for both the Edom
Prom area and also the 150 degree longitude position. Any thoughts?
I'll pass this message along to Dobbins and Martin Gaskell as well.
With all good wishes.
Bill SHEEHAN (