Mars Images — MarsWatch 2005
Wednesday, 14th of September 2005
I made an observation of Mars on September 14, 2005 (06:30 U.T. (IL/W30)
and 06:50 U.T. (W38)) under average to good seeing conditions (5-6/10, moments
of 7/10). I noted an impressive amount of detail extending between Sinus
Sabaeus and Solis Lacus (on the following limb). Mare Erythraeum appeared very
complex and mottled. I welcome any comments on my observations.
Date (U. T.): September 14, 2005
Time (U.T.): 06:30 (left image) and 06:50 (right image)
CM: 012.7 (left image) and 017.5 (right image)
Ls 288.0 (Early Northern Winter/Southern Summer)
De -11.3, Diameter 15.7", Phase (p) 0.89
Instrument: 9-inch (23-cm) F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Magnification: 248x and 388x
Filters (Wratten): 30 (magenta) and 38 (blue)
Seeing (1-10): 5-6 (moments of 7), Antoniadi (I-V): III
Notes:
06:30 U.T (Left image, IL and W30): The South Polar Cap (SPC) appears small,
but brilliant (10/10) surrounded by a dark (3/10) collar (Mare Oceanidum?).
Hellespontus appears dark (3/10) along the south-preceding limb. Noachis
appears shaded to bright (6-7/10). Chalce (?) appears as a dusky (4/10) wedge
extending into Noachis. Pandorae Fretum appears dark to dusky (3-4/10) south
of Sabaeus Sinus (3/10) and Meridiani Sinus (3/10) which are separated by a
shaded to bright (6-7/10) Deucalionis Regio. Brangaena appears a thin, dark
(3/10), curvilinear projection from the north-following border of Meridiani
Sinus. Margaritifer Sinus appears dark (3/10) and wedge-shaped on the CM. Aram
appears bright (7/10) between Meridiani Sinus and Margaritifer Sinus. Oxia
Palus appears as an elliptical, dusky (4/10) albedo feature north of the tip
of Margaritifer Sinus. Mare Erythraeum appears complex and mottled (3-6/10)
following the CM. Aurorae Sinus appears dark (3/10) and wedge-shaped towards
the following limb. The northern border of Mare Erythraeum appears complex
with thin, dusky to dull (4-5/10) projections extending into Chryse-Xanthe
(7/10). Solis Lacus appears dark (3/10) and foreshortened along the following
limb. Niliacus Lacus appears as a dark to dusky (3-4/10) wedge partially
obscured by an extremely bright (9/10) North Polar Hood (NPH). Extremely
bright (9/10) morning and evening limb hazes (MLH and ELH) are noted.
06:50 U.T. (Right image, W38): The South Polar Cap (SPC) appears small and
brilliant (10/10). Pandorae Fretum, Sabaeus Sinus, Meridiani Sinus,
Margaritifier Sinus, Mare Erythraeum, and Solis Lacus are visible as dusky to
dull (4-5/10) albedo features towards the center of the disk. Aram appears
bright (7/10, possible water-ice clouds?). A bright to very bright (7-8/10)
cloud appears to extend between Eden and Tharsis over Chryse-Xanthe. Niliacus
Lacus is visible as dull (5/10) wedge south of an extremely bright (9/10) North
Polar Hood (NPH). Extremely bright (9/10) morning limb haze (MLH) and evening
limb haze (ELH) is noted.
Carlos E. Hernandez
Thursday, 15th of September 2005
Mars, Sept. 15, 2005 UD
CM31.3 degrees, De -11.0 degrees, Ls 288.4 degrees
Phase defect .895, Size 15.8"
Celestron NexStar 11 GPS at 311x with W23A red filter.
Temperature in low 70's, a bit humid, clear, light to moderate breezes,
no Moon. Meridiani near terminator, Solis Lacus at F limb. Margaritifer,
Aurorae & Erythraeum dark. SPC small & bright. Chryse brightest region.
Argyre not as bright as Chryse. Acidalia/Niliacus Lacus protruding from
beneath prominent NP Hood. NP Hood noticeable in W23A red filter and bright
as morning limb haze in W38A blue filter. NP Hood had a light blue tint in
integrated light. Only SPC bright in W58 green filter.
Jay Albert
Lake Worth, FL
Ramiro Hernández Banda
Saltillo, Mx
8" SC telescope, eyepiece projection UV/IR cut off filter
processed with Registax.. 600 avi frames
Toucam Pro
Friday, 16th of September 2005
Ramiro Hernández Banda
Saltillo, Mx
8" SC telescope, eyepiece projection UV/IR cut off filter
processed with Registax. 600 avi frames, Toucam Pro
Diameter 15.9", Central meridian=47° , Phase=89.8%
Clouds and haze over Acidalium and North Pole
Saturday, 17th of September 2005
MARS IMAGES, SEPTEMBER 17th, 2005.
D. A. Peach. Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, UK.
14" (35cm) Celestron SCT @ f/39.5.
Lumenera LU075M CCD camera.
Seeing poor-fair (Pickering 4-5.)
Transparency excellent (5.5mag.)
Wind NNW (5mph.) Moderate dew.
Alt= 44-54 degs.
Syrtis Major is central in these images with various projections off it notably
toward Osiridus Pr. The area at NW Syrtis Major looks faded giving it a rather
pointed appearance. Zea Lacus/Peneus are seen inside Hellas. In Blue, a light
haze is present over Libya. An SPC rift is hinted at in Red light.
Image of the large and bright North Polar region cloud or dust storm.....what
is remarkable is the strong concentration of this cloud into what does now
appear to be a possible vortex point of origin.
An incredibly large and bright thin cloud with strong central condensation or
origin point appears just south of the NPC (lower part of image, with SOUTH
UP); the bright feature is especially dominant in RGB or IR bands, suggesting
the possibility of airborne dust.
Seeing was somewhat poor, but the concentration and focus of the bright cloud
is very obvious and well defined at this time.
Dr. P. Clay Sherrod
Arkansas Sky Observatories
Ramiro Hernández Banda
Saltillo, Mx
8" SC telescope, eyepiece projection UV/IR cut off filter
processed with Registax.. 600 avi frames, Toucam Pro
Diameter 15.9", Central meridian=47° , Phase=89.8%
Clouds , north Pole, green haze near the polar clouds,
due to magnetic field?, auroras, or false colors from my camera?
Attached is a Mars image taken this morning Sept 17, under fair seeing
conditions. The disk diameter has reached the 16" now.
(10 inch Newton & ATK-1HS IRGB observation at 0.08"/p resolution f/60).
Ralf Vandebergh
Attached is the best result of my September 17 Mars work.
IR-GB filtered images taken with ATK-1HS camera
10 inch Newtonian 0.08"/p f/60.
Note the white color of Hellas at the terminator and the fine detail in the
region Hellespontis/Noachis.
Ralf Vandebergh
Sunday, 18th of September 2005
MARS IMAGES, SEPTEMBER 18th, 2005.
D. A. Peach. Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, UK.
14" (35cm) Celestron SCT @ f/39.5.
Lumenera LU075M CCD camera.
Seeing good (Pickering 6-8.)
Transparency excellent (6.0mag.) freq low clouds.
Wind NE (0-5mph.) Moderate dew.
Alt= 44-54 degs.
The 0307 colour image is true RGB and shows some interesting colour, notably a
yellowish Hellas. In Blue the haze over Hellas weakens considerably as it moves
away from the morning limb. Also a large weak haze again over Libya.
Date (UT): 18 September 2005 Time (UT): 03:28h
CM: 291° H: 57° Dec: 15°49'33"
De: -11° Ls: 290° φ: 16.2"
Telescope Schmidt-Cassegrain 280 (f/25)
Seeing: (0-10 scale) 6-7 Trans.: (0-6) Moon !
(10 = excellent)
Magnification: 330x / 350x
Filters: Schott: OG 550 orange
Wratten: W 64 blue/green
W 80a blue
W 85 salmon
Observer Station: Observer:
7° 18' (E) / 48° 01' (N) Teichert Gérard
Hattstatt (France)
Observing notes:
-White cloud is located (difficult to see!) eastern of ARGYRE (CHALGE) (1)
-The SPC can hardly be seen
-The NPH is very bright
Monday, 19th of September 2005
Mars, Sept. 19, 2005 UD
CM350.4 degrees, De -10.8 degrees, Ls 290.8 degrees
Phase defect .903, Size 16.3"
Celestron NexStar 11 GPS at 311x with W23A red filter.
Warm, humid, mostly clear, light breezes, Moon 1 day after full. Meridiani
darkest feature in center. Sabaeus & Serpentis dark & prominent in E,
Margaritifer & Erythraeum in W. Oxus easy when seeing steadiest, but
Hellespontus faint. Niliacus noted at NF limb. Hellas bright at P limb,
Chryse & Moab bright, Deucalionis dusky. NP Hood had a light blue tint in
integrated light. N Polar Hood bright in W38A blue filter along with morning
limb haze; evening limb haze fainter and very narrow. Only SPC bright in W58
green filter.
Jay Albert
Lake Worth, FL
Sept 19, Mars observing session in very good seeing with long moments of
exellent seeing,especially in the period around 01-02:00 UTC.
Here is a first result. This is an animation showing the differences in
the Syrtis Major/Hellas region showing in the near-infrared, integrated light,
and high contrast blue light. Especially the blue light image is interesting
with its presentation of atmospheric features compared to the IR image.
10 inch Newton & ATK-1HS images taken at 0.08"/p res f/60.
Ralf Vandebergh
An image taken under good seeing conditions/exellent transparance at 03:21 UTC
Nodus Alcyonius is obvious present near the terminator.
10 inch Newton & ATK-1HS @0.08"/p res. f/60.
Ralf Vandebergh
Tuesday, 20th of September 2005
Chip Gentry
2005-Sep-20 09:52 UT
Austin, TX
ToUCam/Celestron C-14 with 2X barlow
1/50 sec exposure, 10 fps
Here are some images from Sep 20th in good seeing. The NPH shows some
interesting structure, with a bright dense inner component over Utopia
into Boreo Syrtis, while a weaker hazy component extending across northern
Aetheria. There is also a patchy mist across Libya. Hellas is also misty
near the morning limb. A bright morning mist is present over Aeria.
In Red much fine detail, with Cerberus III visible along with other details
in Hesperia. In the 00:27 image a small dark spot is seen where Elysium
Mons is located - possible evening shadow?
Damian
Date (UT): 20 September 2005 Time (UT): 02:16h
CM: 255° H: 57° Dec: 15°55'30"
De: -11° Ls: 291° φ: 16.4"
Telescope Schmidt-Cassegrain 280 (f/25)
Seeing: (0-10 scale) 6-7 Trans.: (0-6) Moon !
(10 = excellent)
Magnification: 330x / 350x
Filters: Schott: OG 550 orange
Wratten: W 64 blue/green
W 80a blue
W 85 salmon
Observer Station: Observer:
7° 18' (E) / 48° 01' (N) Teichert Gérard
Hattstatt (France)
Observing notes:
-The northern area of HELLAS is bright (1)
-The NPC is difficult to see
Attached is the best result of last night's observations; IR670-1000nm/blue
shots (sGreen). Again it was obvious that the blue light image appeared more
steadier then in red or IR. The blue images were near-exellent.
Some faint filaments of South-Syrtis Major are present.
10 inch Newton & ATK-1HS @ 0.08"/p f/60.
Ralf Vandebergh
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