Sam WHITBY #214

Letters to the Editor


from Sam WHITBY in CMO #214
@. . . . Thank you for your message that was received earlier this evening. It is good to read that you have plenty of Mars observations, and I look forward to receiving more Mars news in the CMO's, for which I will already thank you.
  I am happy to report that Tyler is doing well. We have taken him to another medical specialist and started a different program of treatment. So far he has not had any more attacks of asthma.
  The seeing has been poor every time that I have been to the RAS observatory, and I have gotten up early to go there on numerous occasions. The nearby shopping center may be putting out so much heat that it may not be practical to try to observe Mars there while Mars is so far south and so low in the sky.
  I have made several drawings using my reflector here at home, and tonight I will send two of them to you as attachments. The images are smaller, in the hope of taking less time for them to be transmitted and received.
  . . . . The image called marsfeb23 was drawn on February 23,1999 at 10:45. The CM was 119, De was 15.8, Ls was 101. I used my Newtonian at 310x. Mars was examined using orange, W21, and blue, W80A, filters. Seeing and transparency were good. Mars image was very still. A very bright area was noted on the evening terminator. The rest of the disk's limb was bright but less bright than the evening limb spot. This observation was made near the time when Dr. McKim sent out his dust alert.
  I have some more drawings but not the time to scan them now. Let me just add that on March 15 I observed at the RAS observatory. In spite of very poor seeing, at 10:30 I was able to discern Syrtis Major and a very bright white Hellas. I made a rough sketch which I will send to you later.
  I plan to try to observe tomorrow morning and hope to have good seeing.
(19 Mar 1999 email)
@. . . .  P.S. I have not met Damian Peach in person, but I have corresponded briefly with him, and he seemed quite personable. Unless my memory fails me, he is British. He will be collecting and measuring CCD images for the ALPO Jupiter Section.
  Tyler loves the recent warm weather, and we hope and expect that his health will improve with the weather. It will depend partly upon whether or not he is allergic to something that will bloom in the spring.
  Yesterday I planted snow peas, beets, lettuce, and spinach, in eager anticipation of the harvest.
  With a wish for good seeing in Japan,
(19 Mar 1999 email)

@. . . . I am sending you sketches made on Feb 15 and March 5. . . . . I will try to soon mail to you hard copies of these and my other observations. It is a beautiful day here, windy but warm and sunny, a hint of fine days to come.

(22 Mar 1999 email)
Samuel WHITBY ( VA, USA ) : whitbyu@erols.com