2001 Mars

2001 Mars Observation Reports -- #19--

OAA MARS SECTION

CMO Mars Observations

in the Second Half of December 2001 and the First Half of January 2002
from 16 December 2001 (292°Ls) to 15 January 2002 (310°Ls)
based on the article published in CMO #256 (25 January 2002)

Masatsugu MINAMI, Director of the OAA Mars Section

HIS is a 19th review of the CMO Observations of the 2001 Mars, and treats the following period: 16 December 2001 (292°Ls) to 15 January 2002 (310°Ls) during which the apparent angular diameter went down from 6.8" to 5.9" of arc, while the apparent declination went up from - 11.5° to - 1.5°: If the planet goes far west its altitude remains higher than before, and hence the observable time is not yet so shortened. The central latitude was from 25°S up to 26.5°S (maximal), and so the southern hemisphere faced maximally toward us.
The weather in the Japan islands was various. The area facing to the Pacific Ocean (including Yokohama) was endowed with clear skies, while the rear side (to which Fukui belongs) suffered from the dismal weather. This is typical in winter, but very contrast unusually this winter.

HE observations recorded this period are as follows: The telescope of MORITA came back from 1 January.

BIVER, Nicolas (NBv) Noordwijk, Nederland / Versailles, France^#

11 Colour Drawings (1, 10^# , 15 November; 7, 16, 23^# , 30^# , 31^# December 2001)

300x 20cm speculum/ 510, 330x 26cm speculum^#

ISHADOH, Hiroshi(Id) Naha, Okinawa, Japan

5 Drawings (29 December 2001; 4, 9, 12, 13 January 2002) 400, 530x 31cm speculum

KUMAMORI, Teruaki (Km) Sakai, Osaka, Japan

10 CCD Colour Images (19, 20, 26, 29 December 2001; 9, 12 January 2002)

60cm Cassegrain^$ with a Sony TRV-900

MELILLO, Frank J(FMl) Holtsville, NY, USA

3 CCD Images (19 December 2001; 12 January 2002)

20cm SCT with a Starlight Xpress MX5

MINAMI, Masatsugu (Mn) Fukui, Japan

28 Drawings (20, 26, 28, 29 December 2001; 7, 14 January 2002))

480, 400x 20cm Goto ED refractor^*

MOORE, David M (DMr) Phœnix, AZ, USA

4 Sets of CCD Images (17, 26 December 2001; 2, 13 January 2002)

f/40 36cm F13.5 Cassegrain with a Starlight Xpress HX5

MORITA, Yukio (Mo) Hatsuka-ichi, Hiroshima, Japan

12 Sets of CCD Images (1, 4, 6, 12 January 2002)

f/50 25cm speculum equipped with an ST-5C

MURAKAMI, Masami (Mk) Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan

20 Drawings (16, 20, 23 December 2001; 3, 6, 12, 14 January 2002)

320x 20cm speculum/300x 10cm Nikon ED refractor

NAKAJIMA, Takashi (Nj) Fukui, Fukui, Japan

12 Drawings (28, 29 December 2001; 14 January 2002)

480, 400x 20cm Goto ED refractor^*

PARKER, Donald C (DPk) Miami, FL, USA

9 Sets of CCD Images (17, 20, 28 December 2001; 14 January 2002)

f/44 41cm F/6 Newtonian equipped with a Lynxx PC

TEICHERT, Gérard (GTc) Hattstatt, France

4 Drawings (16 December 2001; 1, 2, 4 January 2002) 330, 350x 28cm SCT

TSUNEMACHI, Hitomi (Ts) Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

70 Drawings (16^&, 19, 20, 22~24, 26~28, 30, 31 December 2001;

1, 4, 6, 10, 13, 14 January 2002)

500x 20cm refractor^& / 360x 12.5cm Takahashi fluorite refractor

^$ Sakai City Observatory

^* Fukui City Observatory

^& Kanagawa-Ken Seishohnen Centre

LATTER half of December 2001
From Japan , we could trace the surface from Syrtis Mj eastward to S Meridiani: On 16 December (292°Ls), TSUNEMACHI (Ts) at Yokohama ended at LCM=327°W, and MURAKAMI (Mk) did at LCM=330°W, and one month later on 14 January (309°Ls), MINAMI (Mn) started from LCM=020°W, Ts did from LCM=034°W, and Mk from LCM=051°W, and so principally we were able to observe from LCM=330°W eastward to LCM=020°W:
Ts used a 20cm refractor at Yokohama on 16 December to detect a small, round spc surrounded by a shadowy area, and roundish Hellas. Libya is white near the preceding limb. She usually uses a 12.5cm, and so the details were beyond the limit at present, but the Fluorite gave well her a gross structure of the surface: On 23 December (296°Ls) the morning Hellas was whitish light at LCM=263°W. At LCM=282°W, the p-limb of the southern continents was quite light. Syrtis Mj was visible though faint. On 27 December (298°Ls) at LCM=233°W, M Cimmerium is wide definite, and the spc looked slim. On 30 December (300°Ls), the spc was small but narrower. The night, she noted Jupiter shined near the Moon, and Saturn was near Aldebaran. On 31 December (301°Ls), M Sirenum was caught, but it was difficult to discriminate it from the tail of M Cimmerium. She recorded thus a total number of 388 drawings in 2001.
Mk uses a 10cm equator to find the planet before the sunset, and so has no better resolution but the surface is still observable. On 23 December (296°Ls), changing at dusk to the 20cm spec at LCM=280°W, he caught a slim Syrtis Mj near the morning terminator. Hellas was inside and slightly roundish lighter. He was busy from the end of the year to the New Year.
ISHADOH (Id) only made an observations on 29 December (300°Ls) at LCM=225°W: The seeing was 4/10 without any serious details, and he thought the surface was not yet reddish but showed a tint of white yellow.
At Fukui, Mn observed on 20 December (294°Ls) and caught the slim Syrtis Mj. At LCM=297°W, there was seen a dark area between the spc and Hellas. At LCM=336°W, the evening Hellas was large roundish, though not so bright. On 26 December (298°Ls), Hellas was seen covered by a dull whitish ground fog near the morning terminator. On 28 December (299°Ls), NAKAJIMA (Nj) joined and we observed from LCM=198°W to 223°W. On 29 December (299°Ls), Mn and Nj started from LCM=167°W and LCM=181°W respectively. At LCM=191°W~196°W, the seeing turned better: M Sirenum was near the p-limb, and the morning continent was whitish misty. The spc was definite. Mn's last drawing in 2001 was numbered Mn-999D.
KUMAMORI (Km) also produced good images: On 19 December (293°Ls) at LCM=308°W & 318°W, the spc appeared very whitish bright though small and round. The area between Hellas and Noachis is interesting. On 20 December (294°Ls) at LCM=291°W; M Hadriacum was well shot and Ausonia Australis is bright near the p- limb. Km's image on 26 December (298°Ls) at LCM=233°W is excellent and may show a misty expansion near Hesperia. On 29 December (300°Ls) Km obtained a series of images at LCM=198°W, 202°W, and 208°W: The description of the west end of M Sirenum implies something. A white mist near Eridania.

Overseas observations also gave good results: BIVER (NBv) took a drawing on 16 December (292°Ls) at LCM=114°W (17:45 GMT): The area of Solis L was complex. Moving to Versailles, NBv then observed on 23 December (296°Ls) at LCM=036°W, 050°W where S Sabæus was separated on the afternoon side and Auroræ S was dark definite in the morning. On 30 December (300°Ls) at LCM=332°W, the dark broad band from M Serpentis to Noachis was observed in detail. The spc was dull. Finally on 31 December (301°Ls) at LCM=312°W (16:48 GMT, already the New Year in Japan), Hellas and Syrtis Mj were caught in detail. Hellas showed its surface colour. The apparent declination was - 6°.
In the US, on 17 December (292/293°Ls) at 00:38 GMT, MOORE (DMr) took images at LCM=214°W, and at 22:42 GMT, Don PARKER (DPk) produced sets of images from LCM=176°W to 194°W. DMr's M Cimmerium appears greenish in the composite. DPk's images show well a new linkage of M Sirenum and M Cimmerium. The spc on the DPk's B images look quite white and larger than in R. No morning mist was caught. On 19 December (294°Ls), MELILLO (FMl) took images at around LCM=150°W near at midnight GMT: The dark band is clearly shot, but the images are unstable. On 20 December (295°Ls), DPk produced important images at LCM=155°W & 159°W where the whole M Sirenum is completely shot near the CM. On 26 December (298°Ls), DMr gave images at LCM=126°W: the area of Dædalia looks still complicated. Finally on 28 December (299°Ls), DPk shot the area of Solis L at LCM=080°W where the dark patch of Solis L has grown larger than before, and the latitudinal position looks to lie between 24°S and 36°S (provisional measurement); near the usual classical position. These images show the dark stain of Melas L (the apparent diameter=6.4").

FIRST half of January 2002
As the New Year came in , MORITA (Mo), who was long stuck because of a trouble of his telescope, became active again. His images on 1 January (301°Ls) at LCM=196°W are excellent. It may convey a white mist to the north of the eastern part of M Cimmerium. The CM angle is near those of DPk's images on 17 December and Km's images on 29 December, and may all give a hint to the west end problem of M Sirenum. Mo also took images on 4 January (303°Ls) at LCM=164°W, 171°W & 181°W. On 6 January (304°Ls) he met again better seeing and shot at LCM=139°W, 146°W, 166°W: The LRGB images show a strange dark patch on the northern hemisphere. The configuration of the dark markings on the southern hemisphere implies something new (together with DMr's images on 26 December). On 12 December (308°Ls) he took at LCM=084°W~103°W: In the Web only the IR images are shown.
Km started from 9 January (306°Ls) at LCM=102°W, and then took two images on 12 January (308°Ls) at LCM=061°W, & 077°W; All are good. Auroræ S is largely down to lower part of the disk. On the south, Argyre looks lighter. Solis L seems to have become larger and looks much recovered: It shows a light-brownish tint. Provisional measurement of its latitude tells us that it lies between 25°S and 33°S, and so looks located in a usual position (disregarding the longitudinal location).

The first of the New Year work abroad was given by DMr: His images on 2 January (302°Ls) at LCM=058°W were taken from 00:48 GMT (still 1 January at Phœnix). The area of Auroræ S to M Erythræum is largely dark, and the morning area at Solis L looks covered by a white mist.
DMr's images on 13 January (308°Ls) at LCM=308°W are also excellent. M Hadriacum goes down to Trinacria and the description of Syrtis Mj to Hellas looks interesting in G. FMl produced R images at LCM=276°W on 12 January (308°Ls): Ausonia is bright at the p-limb. Finally DPk produced excellent images on 14 January (309°Ls) at LCM=272°W~282°W: The new aspect of Ausonia is well shown, it being reddish light down to Trinacria. M Hadriacum has a singular aspect. The band from Promethei S to M Australe is quite dark. The morning Hellas is covered by a white mist, but Zea L is visible.

The visual observations carried in Japan in the New Year are as follows:
Ts observed on 1 January 2002 (301°Ls) at LCM=173°W (8:00 GMT)~212°W, and watched attentively the spr. She also depicted a new configuration of M Sirenum. On 6 January (304°Ls), the seeing was moderate, and watched the area of Dædalia at LCM=124°W and so on. The observations on 13 January (308°Ls) and 14 January (309°Ls) show that the dark areas from M Erythræum to Auroræ S largely occupied the surface.
Mk started from 3 January (303°Ls). On 6 January (304°Ls) at LCM=111°W~141°W he observed the dark band from Dædalia to M Sirenum. On 14 January (309°W) around LCM=051°W, the area around Auroræ S made a bottom of a V shaped large dark marking.
Id began from 4 January (303°Ls): The spc was visible but not clear. On 13 January (308°Ls) at LCM=084°W, he scarcely detected Solis L separated from the preceding Auroræ S.
Hokuriku district suffered from bad weather, and the first cloudless sky came late on 7 January (305°Ls), but images were poor due to a gale. The second clear sky visited on 14 January (309°Ls) and Nj and Mn started 15:10 JST before sunset: on the evening of the day we watched from LCM=020°W (Mn) to LCM=083°W (Nj) tracing from the area of S Sabæus to Auroræ S. The dark broad band from Noachis to M Erythræum was conspicuous. The area of Argyre was light. The region of Auroræ S to M Erythræum was quite dark largely. Niliacus L was a bit seen adjacent to the nph. At LCM=048°W, a morning mist was seen, and at LCM=068°W Solis L was suspected inside. Mn noted at LCM=039°W that the preceding limb of the spr was whitish light; this being already pointed out by Ts at LCM=034°W on the day.

REMARKS: Note D MOORE has changed the camera: The instrument used by DMr on 2 December (#254) should read the Starlight Xpress HX5.
We received MC (ALPO Mars Section Newsletter) #24 (on 11 Jan) and #26 (on 22 Jan) from Dan TROIANI: #18 and #19 were received before. We note also R McKIM kindly sent us "BAA Section Circular 2001 December" on 12 December 2001.

HE next report in #247 deals with the observations during a one-month period from 16 January 2002 (310°Ls) to 15 February 2002 (327°Ls).

Reports will be acknowledged if air-mailed to M MINAMI at Mikuni
(ask the mail-address through vzv03210@nifty.com ) .

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