From Frank J MELILLO
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. . . . . . . . .Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 10:03:43 -0500
Subject:
Venus in UV light: February 23, 2004
Dear all -
Venus was imaged again in UV light February
23, 2004 at 23:44 UT. This time, Venus was taken alot
lower in the sky than the day before.
http://hometown.aol.com/frankj12/venusindex.html
The seeing was OK but not great. Venus
changed dramatically when comparing it just 26 hours ago. Whatever it was on
the limb on the 22nd, it should be on the terminator the next day (23rd). A slight shading was seen on the terminator along with very
faint markings.
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. . . . . . . . .Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 00:57:18 EST
Subject:
Venus in UV light: February 27, 2004
Dear
all-
Venus was imaged in UV light February 27,
2004, at around 23:49 UT. It was a lot lower in the sky about 30 degrees above
the western horizon. Normally, I imaging when Venus is at least 50 degrees up.
The seeing was fair. Venus displayed a faint
marking just above the center on the terminator. I will image more tomorrow and
Sunday.
http://hometown.aol.com/frankj12/venusindex.html
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. . . . . . . . .Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 00:46:05 EST
Subject:
Venus in UV light: February 28 & 29, 2004
Dear all -
Venus was imaged February 28th and 29th,
2004. The seeing was OK about average.
http://hometown.aol.com/frankj12/venusindex.html
On both days, the details are not as
prominent. Just some faint markings near the center of the
terminator. Nothing like the February 22nd observation
which is at the bottom of my Venus website.
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. . . . . . . . .Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 13:48:05 -0500
Subject:
Re: Venus, March 8, 2004
Tom -
Thanks for posting your latest images of
Venus March 8th.
I was planning to image Venus also on
Sunday, but it got cloudier.
I was looking at your blue image very
careful. You might have captured some markings which they are very faint. When
I moved away from my screen, I can barely make out the bands especially just
south of the equator and near the SPR.
I must say the 'Channel blue' filter you are
using is showing the features very weak in contrast. I believe the Toucam is not sensitive enough to go to the UV region. That
where action is. I don't know if your webcam has a CCD chip. Also, do you use
an infrared blocker filter for your blue image?
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. . . . . . . . .Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2004 16:32:31 -0500
Subject:
Re: Venus march 1st and 8th
Excellent!! Especially on March 8th, there
is a possible 'psi' may be seen! Hopefully, you can
image tomorrow to see the difference!
Speaking of the IR 1000 filter, I wouldn't
be surprise if it is blank all the time like you said. Venus' details in IR is very rarely seen. You are penetrating deep
down through the atmosphere which is very plain most of the time. The big difference that the sulfic acid
clouds, which is the UV absorber when exposing to sunlight, transfers to the
top of the atmosphere and it appears darker. Usually in a shorter
wavelength like in UV, we can pick up easily.
Even when I imaged in methane light at 890nm
a few times before, it showed no detials.
But you never know...
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. . . . . . . . .Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 14:08:15 -0500
Subject:
Venus in UV light: March 11, 2004
Hi all -
Venus was imaged unexpectedly in UV light on
March 11th at 23:41 UT.
http://hometown.aol.com/frankj12/venusindex.html
OK, but not much details to be seen.
®
. . . . . . . . .Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 01:23:03 EST
Subject:
Venus' animations updated
Dear
all planetary observers-
I have updated my Venus website with more
animations. Thanks to Jamie Cooper of
These animations reveal much more information
about Venus' clouds structures and the atmospheric rotation. It is obvious that
the features are moving from right to left (from the limb to the terminator). I think this
is the best way for our studies which I prefer nearly simultaneous observation.
I would like to do more of this type of work
before Venus gets too thin later in May. Perhaps, as many as few of us can
image Venus within the same day that spans nearly 9 hours, say from
France/England to California to see the full effect of the rotation. So far, as
little as 3 1/2 hours apart, the rotation effect can be seen. But, much more obvious at 5
hours apart.
http://hometown.aol.com/frankj12/venusindex.html
I am happy to see that more observers are
interested Venus in UV light as never before. Still, much more work are needed to be done to understand the mystery of the
planet's delicate features.
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. . . . . . . . .Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 11:58:07 -0500
Subject:
Re: Venus march 16th and an animation
Christophe and all -
Excellent!!! With such a high resolution,
even at one hour interval, the rotation is noticable!
You have done a spectacular job!!
With all my experience of observing Venus,
it is the first time ever that I have seen the rotation of Venus. This is
remarkable and this was never been done before. I think it is one of the
greatest planetary work ever being done by amateur astronomers
today. I believe the animation is more eye-catching to capture the delicate
features and we have proved it! By doing this type of work, I think it is the
most challenging and rewarding experience of imaging Venus this way.
I'm pretty sure the Venus coordinators
Julius Benton of ALPO and Mario Frassati of BAA agree
and happy with our work!
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. . . . . . . . .Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 00:49:19 EST
Subject:
Venus - March 23, 2004
Dear
all -
Venus was imaged March 23rd between 20:09 UT
and 23:05 UT. The seeing was OK.
http://hometown.aol.com/frankj12/venusindex.html
Both images are roughly three hours apart.
My intention was to make an animation to see a possible small shift of the
rotation. Unfortunately, Venus' markings were pale and no definite patterns
were seen. I couldn't make out any changes in three hours difference and also
the seeing varied much of the time. So, no animation.
Frank J
MELILLO (Holtsville, NY, USA)
Director, the ALPO Mercury Section