2001 Mars Observation Reports -- #21--
OAA MARS SECTION
CMO
Mars Observations
in the Second Half of February 2002 and the
First Half of March 2002
from 16 February 2002 (328°Ls) to 15 March 2002 (342°Ls)
based on the article published in CMO #258 (25 March 2002)
Masatsugu
MINAMI, Director of the OAA Mars Section
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HE days have been
getting so longer, that the planet Mars became quite late to appear in the evening.
Its apparent declination has been higher located, but Mars shows up just above
the setting Sun, and so the surface appears quite low in contrast. We here
treat the period
16 February 2002 (328°Ls) to 15 March 2002 (342°Ls)
The apparent
diameter has much decreased, and thus the observable season looks quite close
to the end. The apparent diameter was 5.1" on 16 February, but went down
to 4.6" on 15 March. The apparent declination went up from +8° to +15°
during the period. The season preceded from 328°Ls to
342°Ls. The central latitude went down from 24°S to 17°S, and the phase angle
recovered from 32° to 28°.
This spring, the climate in
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HE
observations were carried as follows: D PEACH (DPc) in
ISHADOH, Hiroshi
(Id)
10 Drawings
(22, 26 February; 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11,
340, 400,
530x 31cm speculum
KUMAMORI, Teruaki (Km)
7 CCD Colour
Images (16, 20, 22 February; 9,
60cm Cassegrain# with a Sony TRV-900
MINAMI, Masatsugu (Mn)
14 Drawings (16, 20, 22 February;
600, 480,
400x 20cm ED Goto refractor *
MOORE, David M (DMr)
1 Set of
CCD Images (
f/40
36cm F/13.5 Cassegrain
with a Starlight Xpress HX5
MORITA, Yukio (Mo) Hatsuka-ichi,
12 Sets
of CCD Images (22, 24, 25 February; 3, 8,
f/50 25cm speculum
equipped with an ST-5C
MURAKAMI, Masami (Mk)
3
Drawings (24 February; 10,
NAKAJIMA, Takashi (Nj) Fukui,
8
Drawings (16 February;
PARKER, Donald C (DPk)
1 Red Image (
f/44 41cm F/6 Newtonian equipped with a Lynxx PC
PEACH, Damian A (DPc)
3 Colour
CCD Images (16 February; 1,
f/29 31cm Meade SCT with an ST-5C
#
*
Reports from PEACH (DPc):
The planet now was caught in England at the altitude of 30° to 40° and Damian
PEACH (DPc) at Kent enjoyed good seeing conditions to produce
good Mars images though the diameter is small: DPc's
images on 16 February (328°Ls) at ω=216°W clearly shows the spc that is small and surrounded by the southern darkish part
of M Chronium. Eridania bounded by Scamander is described quite well to the
south of the definite M Cimmerium. M Sirenum is dark but looks shorter than
expected.
On 1 March (335°Ls), DPc produced a set of
excellent images at ω=091°W (17:44 GMT): The darkened Solis L is near the
CM, being located around 27°S with its lower border at 20°S as we measured. The
shape is still singular, and followed by the Dædalia
dark patch. In the evening a streak parallel to Nereidum
Fr is dark down to Auroræ S while Auroræ
S shows another following faint spot. Thaumasia looks complexed.
The spc is clear and round though quite small. The altitude
is recorded 40° at 17:44 GMT.
On 2 March (335°Ls) DPc also obtained another
set of good images at ω=078°W: Solis L looks duller than the day before,
but Auroræ S is featured to consist of two spots, if
not over processed. There is a light patch between Solis L and Auroræ S.
Observations in
the
Dave
MOORE (DMr) observed on 23 February (333°Ls) at ω=273°W and got R and G good
images. His Syrtis Mj reminds us of the shape usually seen on the occasion of
great oppositions, and the new feature of the fainted Trinacria is shot. It
should be said that the west end of M Cimmerium quite extends down to the
north.
Don PARKER (DPk) obtained one R image on 12 March (342°Ls) at ω=093°W (00:42 GMT): It shows the
area of Solis L and Auroræ S both of which are dark. Melas L is visible.
Observations in Japan:
On 16 February (328°Ls) Teru-aki KUMAMORI (Km)
produced an image at ω =083°W (08:29 GMT) that precedes those given later
by DPc on 1 & 2 March and by DPk on 12 March in the sense Solis L and the following Dædalia patch are well shown. Auroræ
S is dark shown mildly, and it describes well the shadowy area preceding
Thaumasia. The slit between Solis L and Auroræ S is
singularly light. On 16 February, Takashi NAKAJIMA (Nj) and Masatsugu MINAMI (Mn) at
On 20 February (330°Ls), Mn just watched the
planet at ω=020°W, 030°W annoyed by cloud passing, while Km produced good images at ω=045°W, 052°W
& 059°W (made of 74 to 106 frames). During Mn's
times,
On 22 February (331°Ls), Km obtained an image at
ω=033°W where a faint patch is shown at Auroræ S
(maybe a ghost-like ? though made of 93 frames). On
the day, Mn observed at ω=015°W, 025°W, but ended earlier
than usual because of clouding. Hiroshi ISHADOH (Id)
observed at ω=035°W (9:10 GMT), but the seeing was poor, and got no
detail. The spr is hazy white. Yukio MORITA (Mo) took images at ω=058°W: the IR images show similar
configurations to that of Km on 20 February.
On 24 February (332°Ls), Masami MURAKAMI (Mk)
observed at ω=020°W and checked a broad dark band from S Sabæus to Margaritifer S, and saw
a darker part near S Meridiani. The afternoon limb light.
Mo produced images at ω=020°W, 027°W, and 032°W.
The central latitude was 23°S, and
On 26 February (333°Ls), Id observed at
ω=010°W where
As noted in CMO #134 (25 June 1993 issue) at p1251, Hellas usually shows a
second/ weaker peak of activity just before the southern autumnal equinox, and
hence
On 2 March (335°Ls), Id observed at
ω=328°W where
On 3 March (336°Ls) Nj
& Mn watched from ω=277°W (at 7:10 GMT) to
ω=325°W: Hellas was slightly light until around ω=286°W, but vague
compared with Syrtis Mj and
On 4 March (337°Ls), Id observed at
ω=316°W:
On 7 March (338°Ls), Id observed at
ω=286°W:
On 9 March (339°Ls), Km observed at ω=247°W, and Mo at ω=254°W, 259°W, 264°W, and 272°W. Id then at ω=266°W. Every shows
a fat M Cimmerium. The R images of Mo at ω=259°W look
stable and suggests that the west end of M Cimmerium goes down to the north. He
obtained several IR images on the day. Id also
enjoyed a steady atmosphere, but the markings appeared faint to him. No judgement about
On 10 March (340°Ls) Mk observed at
ω=247°W, and Id at ω=247°W and
259°W: Both were annoyed by poor seeing, but Mk
noticed that the dark band was darker on the morning side,
and Id that the western part of M Cimmerium was dark. Both
checked the presence of the nph. Id felt that
On 11 March (340°Ls) Id observed at
ω=247°W, but just saw the dark band and on 13 March (341°Ls) seeing
slightly improved but Id just caught M
Cimmerium at ω=227°W. He thought the disk was too yellowish.
On the same day (13 March) Mk observed at
ω=210°W and checked the band from M Sirenum to M Cimmerium. Km also obtained an image at ω=213°W where a
dark area was near the CM. Mo took images at around ω=239°W: M
Cimmerium is distinct in R and IR.
Further Received:
Tsutomu ISIBASHI (Is)
reported some emulsion-made colour images:
ISHIBASHI, Tsutomu (Is)
8 Colour
Images (16, 17, 27 August; 12, 18, 29 September;
31cm f/6.4 speculum; Fujichrome Provia 400F (RDF III)
The image on 16 August 2001 (215°Ls) was made at ω=120°W and faintly shows
a shadowy area at Dædalia. No detail though the
apparent diameter = 15". On 12 September (232°Ls) he got images at
ω=207°W, and 218°W where the nph is definite under
better seeing. The image on 23 November (277°Ls) at ω=210°W shows faintly
M Cimmerium when the apparent diameter= 7.7".
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HE next
report in #259 shall deal with the observations during a one-month period from
16 March 2002 (343°Ls) to 15 April 2002 (358°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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