Dear Masatsugu:

A passing thought that you may wish to share with your colleagues during your upcoming meeting... After a lapse of over a century, it may be time to revive the long-abandoned 19th century practice of calculating ephemerides for Martian specular reflections -- not for features like Syrtis Major that were once mistaken for bodies of water, but for a select handful of locales that are known to frequently habor ice-fogs and frost deposits. During the extremely favorable perihelic apparition of Mars in 2003, the values of De and Ds will be virtually coincident at -19.4 degrees in late July and ealy August, when the apparent diameter of the planet's disc will exceed 22 seconds of arc. I recommend that northern Hellas and Iapygia, northern Thaumasia, and the axis defined by Tithonius Lacus and the 'canals' Coprates and Agathodaemon be carefully monitored for specular reflections at that time.

Meanwhile, I am certain that the unfolding dust storm is occupying your attention!

Warmest regards,

Tom