Carlos E HERNANDEZ #204

Letters to the Editor


from Carlos E HERNANDEZ in CMO #204

  I would first like to congratulate the Mars Section of the Oriental Astronomical Association (OAA) on its 200th issue of its informative newsletter "Communications in Mars Observations" (CMO). As a serious Mars observer I always look forward in receiving the latest issue to discover what my fellow observers are noting upon the surface (and atmosphere) of our ruddy celestial neighbor. Through contributions from its own outstanding observers and other talented and dedicated observers throughout the world it will continue to enlighten the astronomical community on the state of the planet Mars throughout time. The fact that we are sending increasingly complicated spacecraft to the red planet does not diminish our efforts but makes them all the more valuable. May the CMO enlighten the dawn of areography from the land of the rising sun!

  I have attached my observations from the previous Mars apparition (1996-97) for your records (although I believe I previously sent some of these observations before the March 17, 1997 opposition). I admonish myself for not sending them sooner, but I was under the assumption (wrong on my part) that they were being downloaded from the Marswatch ftp site (as other observers had done and written to me on them) during the apparition itself. I strongly urge my fellow Mars observers to send their observations as soon as possible in order to allow the recorders to perform a timely analysis of the observations. As with all data, a greater number of observations (hopefully of good quality) strengthens a given observation statistically.
  I look forward in discussing future observations for the upcoming Mars apparition (1998-99) through the media of the CMO. I congratulate the efforts of Messrs. Murakami, Nakajima, Nishita and not least Minami on behalf of the Mars scientific community at large. May the CMO and Mars Section of the OAA continue to prosper!

(7 June 1998 email)

  Dear Masami, Thank you (and Dr. Minami) for your compliments on my Mars observations for the 1996-97 apparition. As I previously stated I wish that I had sent them on a more timely basis but I am glad that you have them at this time for analysis. We live in a very exciting time as we are experiencing firsthand the exploration of the planet Mars by sophisticated spacecraft and hopefully mankind himself in the not too distant future.
  The best of luck to you, Dr. Minami, your fellow recorders and members of the OAA Mars Section.
(8 June 1998 email)

Carlos E HERNANDEZ (Miami FL, USA) : ceh@netside.net