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      THE INTERNATIONAL MARSWATCH ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
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                     Volume 4; Issue 1 
                     January 17, 1999
                     Circulation: 1435

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Dear Marswatch participant,

A few big announcements:

First: The 1998-1999 Marswatch Web Site is on line! Thanks to a huge amount
of work by Bert Stevens and the gracious support of the Astronomical League,
Marswatch has a home on the Web for the current observing season. To get to
the site, point (and bookmark!) your browser to:


http://www.astroleague.org/marswatch/

At this site you'll find the latest CCD images, photos, drawings, and other
data of Mars uploaded by amateur and professional observers (some fantastic
CCD images by noted Mars observer Don Parker are already there!). You can also
upload your own images for all to see. This is a great way to allow others
to follow along in the continuing adventure of Mars exploration. Everyone
observing Mars this year is encouraged to participate. The site will soon be
linked from the main JPL Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander Web sites,
providing increased visibility and access to groundbased images of Mars.
The new Marswatch Web site also provides links to additional information and 
resources about Mars and the Marswatch Project, and by following links to 
the Astronomical League's main Web site at http://www.astroleague.org/ 
you can find much more information about telescopes, observing methods, and even
joining a member society of the Astronomical League in your area. So please
check out the new Marswatch Web Site and start uploading your images (and
downloading your friends') today!

And Second: Another great leap for Mars Exploration occurred in the cloudy
Florida afternoon skies on January 3, as the Mars Polar Lander began its
11-month trek to the Red Planet. If all goes as planned, the Lander will
perform a powered descent to a region near the Martian south pole on
December 3 of this year, and on the way will release two small "microprobes"
to explore the subsurface. It's another set of gutsy, risky, low cost but
hopefully high gain NASA science missions.  Check out the mission and some 
spectacular launch shots (including amazing movies of the launch *from a
camera on the first stage of the Boeing Delta-II rocket*) at the official 
web sites:

Lander: 
http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/orbiter/

Microprobes: 
http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds2/

Finally, here's another interesting and (as usual) thought-provoking article
by Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (A.L.P.O.) Mars observer
Jeff Beish on the value of continuing telescopic observations of the planet,
even in this era of hi-tech orbiters and landers and rovers.

Enjoy, and best wishes for a successful observing season!

=============================================

            Are Amateur Observations of Mars Important to Science?
                By: Jeff Beish, Former Mars A.L.P.O. Recorder

	During the 1960's and 1970's heyday of space missions to Mars we learned
that amateur observations were of vital importance to the safety of landing
machines on that planet.  In a J.A.L.P.O. paper titled, "A Season for
Viking", Chick Capen accredited A.L.P.O. observers with alerting space
agency officials to the highly active region of Chryse.  He wrote that the
Chryse region exhibited "a history of seasonally controlled weather".
Chryse was a target for the Viking I Lander and they had contracted several
planetary astronomers to detail the region as a possible landing site.
Capen was one of those chosen and he reported information A.L.P.O.
observers had sent him along with his own telescopic observations at Lowell
Observatory.

	Indeed, Chryse is an active region.  During the Martian northern he 
writes, "summer and winter, when one or the other of the polar caps has about
completed its thawing phase, there have been observed morning bright
patches which were interpreted to be ice-fogs or ground frosts formed
during the chill of the night". [Capen, 1976].  This interpretation is
still to be fully verified, and he was optimistic that ground-based amateur
observers would contribute to solving this weather phenomena on Mars.

	From my own observations, Chryse has been more active than past observers
had believed.  Several dust storms have been observed in this area and to
rage on for weeks.   Dust clouds have been observed to cross from Chryse
south into the darker regions and flow into and out of Eos-Aurorae Sinus
and continue on into the Solis Lacus area.  Although Chryse is reported
bright in all colors during most seasons, observers should be especially
aware of the area during the end of the polar cap thawing period.  This
story of weather in Chryse may not be the whole, however.

	During May of 1982 this author tracked bright dust clouds on the morning
limb west of Solis Lacus extending northeast toward Tithonius Lacus and
Lunae Lacus. Dust clouds and haze north of Solis Lacus extended onto the
morning limb and into Margritifier Sinus, adjacent to Chryse.  These
features are close by to Chryse and dust was seen to cover the Ganges
almost completely.  Chryse remained bright with dusty haze for weeks
afterward.

	Several Martian areas adjacent to Chryse also exhibit active weather
patterns.  One in particular is Ophir, a bright desert region sandwiched
between Aurorae Sinus and the dark blotches and canal like features
connecting to Coprates.  The Ganges border Ophir to the east and when
the Coprates is dark this regions is very bright, giving observers cause to
claim that a dust cloud may be present there.  While A.L.P.O. observers
have in fact reported dust activity in Ophir, it is usually in conjunction with
a confirmed dust storm in Chryse or Solis Lacus.  Detecting the positions
of dust clouds is difficult even when visually observing Mars with filters,
so we then alert astronomers equipped to image the planet at a moment's
notice. 

	A well equipped astro-imager can verify the presence of dust clouds and
work with visual observers to track these storms for as long as they last.
Visual observers should be aware of the excellent CCD imagers out there in
amateur astronomy land and it is hoped that the A.L.P.O. Mars Section
Coordinators will list these fine astronomers and how to contact them in
future Martian Chronicles.  This would be great to include in any future
articles in Sky and Telescope, Astronomy, and Amateur Astronomy magazines.  

	A rumor is circulating that amateur contributions to science are in
question.  This author knows very well that this is a completely bogus
assertion, however. There may be young people out there who are impressed
by these self-appointed experts, and the experienced "Pro Am" scientists
have an obligation to set the record straight.  One thing is for sure: if
we leave it up to the official space agency to investigate this Red
Planet's weather, they will no doubt contact the amateur community when
they get stuck!  When the Hubble Space Telescope imaged that dust storm in
Chryse right before the Pathfinder was to land, the media hyped it up and
left many with the impression that you need HST to discover these things.
Amateurs were far ahead of this, just ask our Mars Section astronomers!

Reference:    Capen, Charles F., "A Season for Viking," J.A.L.P.O., Vol 26,
   Nos. 3-4, August 1976, pages 41 - 46.

=============================================

A calendar of events for the coming Mars apparition can be found in
IMW newsletter Volume 3, number 6, at:

http://astrosun.tn.cornell.edu/marsnet/imw/imw3.6.html

For more information on starting your own Mars observing program,
or contributing to the scientific study of Mars, check out the A.L.P.O. 
WWW home page at:  http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/alpo/mars.html
and the Astronomical League's Web site at http://www.astroleague.org/.

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Other Useful WWW sites:
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Latest MGS images: 

http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/index.html

Main MGS Home Page:  

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/index.html

Mars-98 Orbiter:

http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/orbiter/

Mars-98 Lander:

http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/lander/

Mars-98 MVACS Science Payload Home Page:

http://mvacs.ess.ucla.edu/index.html

New Millenium Mars Microprobe Mission (DS2):

http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds2/

Pathfinder Home Page:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/default.html

JPL Mars Missions Page

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mars

Mars-01 and Mars-03 APEX/Athena Science Payloads

http://astrosun.tn.cornell.edu/athena/index.html

A.L.P.O. Mars observations: 

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/alpo/mars.html

Astronomical League:

http://www.astroleague.org/

1998-99 Marswatch ftp site and imaging highlights: 

http://www.astroleague.org/marswatch

1996-97 Marswatch highlights: 

http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/mpf/marswatch.html

Mars (and other) Educational Resources Page

http://marswatch.tn.cornell.edu/marsidea

MarsNet:  

http://astrosun.tn.cornell.edu/marsnet/mnhome.html

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I will continue to maintain the email distribution list as well
as the various Cornell and JPL Marswatch-related WWW archives. 
If you are receiving duplicate copies of this mailing, or you want
your name removed from the distribution list, please send me email.

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Jim Bell
Cornell University
Department of Astronomy
Center for Radiophysics and Space Research
402 Space Sciences Building
Ithaca, NY 14853-6801
phone: 607-255-5911; fax: 607-255-9002
email: jimbo@marswatch.tn.cornell.edu
WWW: http://marswatch.tn.cornell.edu
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