From
Carlos
E HERNANDEZ
© . . . . . . . Dear Mr. Murakami,
I have made an
observation of Mars on May 8 (08:15 U.T.) under average seeing conditions (5-6/10, with moments of 7/10). I noted much detail over the Mare Erythraeum region as described
below. Dust over the Argyre region was not noted at this time as recently
reported as possibly being observed by some observers. Agathodaemon/Tithonius
Lacus (the central portion of the great Valles Marineris) was prominently noted towards the following limb adjacent to an
extremely bright morning limb haze (MLH). I welcome any comments on my Mars observation. I welcome any comments on my
Mars observation.
The
best of luck to the OAA Mars Section in your own observations of the red planet.
Date
(U.T.):
Time
(U.T.):
CM:
055.8
Ls:
181.4, De: -17.2, Ds: -0.6
Diameter:
10.0 arc-seconds
Instrument:
9-inch (23-cm) F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Magnification:
248x and 365x
Filter
(Wratten): 30 (Magenta)
Seeing
(1-10): 5-6 (moments of 7/10), Antoniadi (I-V): III
Transparency
(1-6): 4
Notes:
South Polar Hood (SPH): Appears extremely bright (10/10)
over the southern limb.
Sinus Meridiani: It's
following (western) border appears adjacent to the evening (preceding) limb
enshrouded by an extremely bright (9/10) evening limb haze (ELH).
Margaritifer Sinus: Appears dark (3/10) and
triangular-shaped towards the p limb.
Mare Erythraeum: Appears dark (3/10) with lighter
(shaded, 6/10) regions
consisting of Pyrrhae Regio and Protei Regio (preceding to
following). A dark (3/10) bar (Arsinoes Depressio?) appears to divide Pyrrhae
Regio and
Protei Regio. Eos
appears shaded to bright (6-7/10) north of Pyrrhae Regio.
Mare Australe:
Appears dark (3/10) and uniform north of the SPH.
Aurorae Sinus: Appears dark (3/10) with a dark
(3/10) projection from it's following end (possibly
the southern portion of an obscured
Bosporos Gemmatus:
Appears dark (3/10) and extends south between Aurorae Sinus and the SPH.
Agathodaemon (Coprates)/Tithonius
Lacus: Appears dark (3/10) as a projection from the following
border of Aurorae Sinus. This represents the central portion of the great Valles Marineris.
Chryse-Xanthe:
Appears bright (7/10) without any detail visible within.
Niliacus Lacus: Appears as a dark (3/10) wedge
towards the northern limb which connects to a dusky to dull (4-5/10) Nilokeras
adjacent to an extremely bright (9/10) morning (following) limb haze (MLH).
North Polar Haze (NPH): Appears extremely bright (9/10)
over the northern limb.
(9 May 2003
email)
Carlos HERNANDEZ (
