Mars Images — MarsWatch 2005
Sunday, 23rd of October 2005
Observer : Christian Woehler
Instrument : Orion TS 200/1200 mm Newton reflector
Camera : Philips ToUCam Pro CCD Webcam
Location : Heroldstatt, Germany
Date (UT) : October 23, 2005
Time (UT) : 05:48
CM (degrees) : 7.8
Focal length : 4200 mm
Scale : 0.19"/pixel (top)
1 degree long./lat. per pixel (bottom, map projection)
Filter : RG 610
Stacked images: 3200, best 40% selected
Seeing : 3/10
Remarks : A part of the ongoing dust storm is visible as a streak
at 40 degrees southern latitude, ranging from about
9 to 72 degrees longitude and probably further to the
west. At the western limb, the dust storm appears as a
bright spot.
MARS IMAGES, OCTOBER 22-23rd, 2005.
D. Peach. Selsey, W. Sussex, UK
9.25" (23.5cm) Celestron SCT @ f/42.0.
Lumenera LU075M CCD camera.
Seeing fair-good (Pickering 5-7.)
Transparency very good (6.0mag) scatt low clouds early.
Wind SW (5-15mph.) Moderate dew.
Alt= 50-55-44 degs.
Here is a long sequence from the second night at Patrick's Moore's home.
The dust was seen near the end of the session over Argyre. Also some dust
over Mare Erythraeum. Nice activity in Blue light with a brilliant NPH.
The yellow dust storm is spreading westward (celestial) and southward on
Mars as indicated in tonight's images and reports by others; clouds prevented
observations of the Solis Lacus region directly, but clearly there is intense
yellow activity on the eastern limb.
More curiously to me at this point is the intense bright spot that first
became evident around October 18 on images here at ASO; it is quite pronounced
and scintillating at about CM 5 deg, and is NOT axially aligned with the NCP
of Mars, but rather offset in relation to the SPC; I do not believe this odd
feature to be a polar cap per se, and indications of brightening could indicate
some transient activity due to solar heating near the pole. This really
deserves careful scrutiny I believe and I look forward to observations and
comments from others.
Dr. P. Clay Sherrod
Arkansas Sky Observatories
Another good eye catch by our Mars observing friend Ron; he has take two of
the ASO images (Oct 20 and 23) and animated a short .gif file to demonstrate
the brilliant flash or spot near the Martian northern pole; this is NOT at
the position of the true NPC of Mars, but is rotating with the planet eccentric
to the pole. Note the remarkable shift in the bright white spot in only three
days. The first image is Oct 20 and that unlabeled is Oct 23; there is a
slight difference in longitude, but use common and conspicuous markings to
ascertain this rapid westward motion relative to the other features of Mars.
Dr. P. Clay Sherrod
Arkansas Sky Observatories
Ramiro Hernández Banda , Saltillo, Mx
8" SC Celestron telescope, QuickCam + eyepiece projection UV/IR cut off filter.
Dust storm keeps over martian surface, Erythaerum recovers its previous face
Diameter: 20" , -2.1 mag, Phase:0.98, UT=6:39, CM Central Meridian=20 deg.
Monday, 24th of October 2005
Tuesday, 25th of October 2005
The yellow dust on Mars in become less localized and there appear to be two
major areas of dust activity as seen from the "north America" side of the
planet. Images were obtained in horribly turbulent rapidly cooling air, but the
bright areas of dust were very scintillating visually and thus deemed worthy
of at least capturing these two shots, slightly more than one hour apart.
Dr. P. Clay Sherrod
Arkansas Sky Observatories
I use a 12.5-inch x f/6 Newtonian with eyepiece projection to F/60 (750
inches EFL) and a ToUCam Pro 840, processing with Registax3 (35 frames)
0839 UT
CM=35
Wycliffe Hoffler
Titusville, FL
Wednesday, 26th of October 2005
Date (U.T.): October 26, 2005
Time (U.T.) 03:15
CM 303.9
Ls: 313.0 (Mid-Northern Winter/Southern Summer)
De -13.1, Ds -17.9, p 0.99, 20.11"
Instrument: Celestron 8" F/10 SCT
Magnification: 194x
S (1-10): 5-6, Antoniadi (I-V): III
Transparency: 6+ (No lights!)
Notes:
The dust storm appears to be obscuring the majority of the Southern hemisphere
of Mars. It's color appeared a pale yellow-mustard to my eyes. The storm
appears to extend into the Hellas basin (6-8/10) from Noachis (6-7/10). The
southern half of Meridiani Sinus (southern half, 3-6/10) was partially obscured
by dust. The South Polar Cap (10/10) was visible through the dust . Syrtis
Major appeared prominent (3-4/10) preceding the CM. Mare Tyrrhenum (4/10) and
Syrtis Minor (3/10) were visible towards the preceding limb. Sinus Sabaeus was
prominent (3-4/10) as well on the CM. Pandorae Fretum (4-6/10) was obscured
over certain sections by dust. A thin, dusky to dull (4-5/10) Hellespontus was
visible through the dust. Neith Regio, Aeria, Arabia, Moab, and Eden were
bright (7/10) without any other detail visible within. Extremely bright (9/10) n
morning limb haze (MLH), North Polar Hood (NPH), and evening limb haze (ELH)
were visible.
Carlos E. Hernandez
MARS IMAGES, OCTOBER 25-26th, 2005.
D. Peach. Selsey, W. Sussex, UK
14" (35cm) Celestron SCT @ f/40.
Lumenera LU075M CCD camera.
Seeing poor (Pickering 3-4.)
Transparency very good (5.5mag.)
Wind SSE (5-10mph.) Moderate dew.
Alt= 54 degs.
Back home for these images. Seeing poor (like it has been almost every night
this month.) The Elysium hemisphere is presented here at the moment, and no
dust activity is present anywhere on this side of the Planet.
The SPC shows some interesting detail in red, with a possible rift.
Date (UT): 26 October 2005 Time (UT): 22:43h
CM: 200° H: 36° Dec:16°22'08"
De: -14° Ls: 313° φ: 20.1"
Telescope Schmidt-Cassegrain 280 (f/25)
Seeing: (0-10 scale) 4-5 Trans.: (0-6) 5
(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:
-No details can be seen on the SPC !
-A whitte cloud is localed above HELLAS (1)
-The Martian atmosphere is less transparent than usual !
-The NPH can be seen very well (filter W 80a blue)
A few images from this morning, showing multiple segments to the North
Polar Hood, with two apparent bright knots as previously noted; perhaps
the segmentation is due to prevailing circulation since separation appears
latitude-specific. There appear to be three bright areas of yellow clouds
or dust, although none appear to be of significant density.
Dr. P. Clay Sherrod
Arkansas Sky Observatories
Thursday, 27th of October 2005
MARS IMAGES, OCTOBER 27th, 2005.
D. Peach. Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, UK.
14" (35cm) Celestron SCT @ f/40.
Lumenera LU075M CCD camera.
Seeing very poor (Pickering 2-3.)
Transparency very good (5.5mag.) occ clouds.
Wind S (5-10mph.) Moderate dew.
Alt= 48 degs.
Here are some images from the 27th. Very poor seeing. The blue syrtis cloud
seems to be present in this set of images though i didnt verify it at the
eyepiece.
Here is a set I took last night almost midnight my time. I have been watching
the dust clouds develop with much interest through many of your images. On
mine this morning I note the notable dust band in the South visible in all
wavelengths suggesting the dust has reached the upper atmosphere. It does not
appear to have yet reached Hellas in my opinion, based on the fact that the
band in blue does not go that far.
I do note some disturbances in Oxia Palus, Margeritfer Sinus, Mare Erythreaum
and perhaps Chryse. There are hints of obscuration in the green and red image,
but not blue. Mostly however, I note a haze over the entire region, notable
on the RGB image resulting in reduced contrasts.
Dave Moore
Some dust in the southern regions of Chryse does appear, although seemingly
thin; this spreads southward. Interesting diagonal "wave of darkening" seen
in the northern regions along with some high think N. Polar haze... Overall
pretty variable seeing conditions persist; there are very brief moments of
incredible clarity, but only on the order of 3-5 seconds maximum.
Dr. P. Clay Sherrod
Arkansas Sky Observatories
Sketch of Mars, Oktober 27 2005 / 21.00 UT
Meade ETX 105 Mak with Vixen Zoom 24-8 @ x180
With orange filter
Seeing 2.5 / 5 —
Rony De Laet, Bekkevoort, Belgium (Sea Level)
http://www.geocities.com/rodelaet
Ramiro Hernández Banda , Saltillo, México.
8" SC Celestron telescope, QuickCam + eyepiece projection UV/IR cut off filter.
Ring of haze or dust visible in the south pole
Diameter: 20.1" , -2.1 mag, Phase:0.99, UT=4:45, CM Central Meridian=318 deg.
Friday, 28th of October 2005
Date (UT): 28 October 2005 Time (UT): 02:12h
CM: 271° H: 50° Dec:16°19'29"
De: -14° Ls: 314° φ: 20.2"
Telescope Schmidt-Cassegrain 280 (f/25)
Seeing: (0-10 scale) 4-5 Trans.: (0-6) 4 hazy
(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 SPC can hardly be seen
-The Martian atmosphere is less transparent than usual !
-HELLAS is fading
There is an incredibly brilliant outbreak, perhaps yellow dust, between
Margaritifer Sinus and Sinus Meridiani this morning, this developing from a
minor yellow cloud just 24 hours ago. This feature is so bright that it is
difficult to accurately image it without greatly underexposing the rest of
the Martian features surrounding it. Note the (at least) seven (7) "fingers"
or extensions that seem to radiate or spread outward from a large central
area of unprecedented intensity. This odd area was first noted early this
morning by Frank Melilo and Joel Warren and as it has rotated into view I
believe that it has actually rapidly intensified in brightness. Hopefully
west coast (USA) observers will get this as well.
I would appreciate the opinions and input of others, but honestly with the
symmetry of the radiations emanating from this bright spot, I am not sure
that we cannot rule out a catastrophic outflow, similar to that of eruption
or even impact in nature. This does appear, because of the concentration
in brilliance and the rapidity of development, to be extraordinary in nature.
Dr. P. Clay Sherrod
Arkansas Sky Observatories
Just this morning a major event has happened on Mars, something that will be
quite obvious and plainly visible in even small telescopes from the western
hemisphere for about the next week, observing around 05:00 UT (midnight local
time Central). On the meridian is a huge yellow "cloud" or outgassing that is
brighter than any known feature of the planet. It has developed rapidly in
only 24 hours from a small point of light to an intense area of coverage with
7 appendages that are stretching in all directions; estimates by Joel Warren
indicate that the cloud (?) is approaching 700-800 miles across at this time
and is spreading at a speed of some 35 MPH.
NOTE that the Mars Rover OPPORTUNITY is just north and east of this point....
they are actually tasking the Rover for images today. Unfortunately this is
not visible during nighttime hours for observers in Europe, Australia, etc.
I have posted two images showing this feature, one showing the incredible
sight as it rotates into view this morning, Oct. 28; the other image shows
a comparison of the major changes that have taken place in ONLY 24 hours
from Oct 27 to Oct 28.
Dr. Clay
--------------------
Arkansas Sky Observatories
A very fine animation of my ASO images by Ron who has put into motion the
view of the new outbreak on Mars from this morning; as some have suggested,
I do believe that the feature is intensifying over time and that it did so in
the time frame of this sequence. Using a densitometer, there appears to be
little if no obliquity changes of other limb features either south or north of
this as the feature rotates into view, but the outbreak brightens substantially.
Dr. P. Clay Sherrod
Arkansas Sky Observatories
Saturday, 29th of October 2005
Here is my preliminary images from this morning. I have three other sets to
process, but are from an earlier time. This set shows the dust disturbance
best as it is the last set taken for the morning. I wanted to keep going,
but the ole body said 20 hours was enough!
The dust is strong in green light and is showing on the RGB with a slight
greenish twinge to it. I doubt this is normal, but a result of processing. It
does show up easily though because of this.
Dust activity has quieted down from the day before, but still strongly visible
and appears to be terrain following. The activity is barely or not visible at
all in blue, indicating the dust did not make it into the upper atmosphere.
The dust remnant form last weeks activity is still visible to the South, but
is breaking up and dissipating. It is still visible in blue so may take a
while to totally disappear.
Dave Moore
Showing a somewhat weakening yellow dust disturbance that was prominent
between Sinus Meridiani and Margaritifer Sinus. High contrast inset image
(lower right) demonstrates the true nature of the bright core cloud. Image
in moments of very good seeing. Note the very bright blue clouds within the
northern polar regions as well as the odd diagonal darkening wave that persists.
Dr. P. Clay Sherrod
Arkansas Sky Observatories
Composite of three dates centered at near Martian Longitude 350 deg.,
demonstrating the pre-, maximum-, and current distribution and outbreak of
the remarkable dust event of October 28. Dates are Oct. 27, 28, and 29;
from the latter image note that the intensity and concentration of this feature
has subsided and distribution of the dust appears to be commencing, leading
it seems to less density and concentration than during the Oct. 28 sudden
intensification of this area.
Dr. P. Clay Sherrod
Arkansas Sky Observatories
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