O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O-> O->

      THE INTERNATIONAL MARSWATCH ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
      -------------------------------------------------
                     Volume 6; Issue 3
                       Aug 4, 2003
                     Circulation: 1059

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Greetings Mars Observers!  This issue is a little late due to
the holiday weekend and navitating some of the detials of deleting
dead e-mail addresses from the list.  On to the Mars info!

(1) Opposition Notes and August Ephemerides
(2) Dust Storms and Observations
(3) Mars Explorer Rovers
(4) Mars Express
(5) Mars Odyssey
(6) Mars Global Surveyor

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Opposition Notes and August Ephemerides

This is the month we've all been waiting for!  On 27 Aug 2003 Mars
will reach opposition; a perihelic opposition that should be the best
since before recorded history.  Mars will reach an apparent size of
about 25.13 arcseconds, a brightiness of -2.88 magnitudes, and a distance
from Earth of about 0.373 AU (about 55.75 million km, or 34.6 million mi).

While this will be the best perihelic opposition in quite some time,
don't despair if you have cloudy nights.  Despite some of the media
hype you may have been hearing, this is not quite the once-in-a-lifetime
event it may sound.  To fully understand this, let me digress a bit
on solar system geometry.

These closest approaches of Earth and Mars are called "oppositions"
because Mars appears in our skies opposite the Sun.  It will rise
at sunset and set at sunrise.  An opposition of Mars occurs about
every 25 months, the time it takes for Earth to pass Mars in
its orbit.  Where this happens in space --- that is in Mars' orbit,
changes from opposition to opposition.

Mars is going around the Sun in a very elliptical orbit (Earth's
orbit is an ellipse, too, but it is almost circular) and at some
times of the Martian year, it is very close to the sun (perihelion)
and other times, far (aphelion).  In 1995 when Earth passed Mars,
Mars was near its aphelion point; in 1988 Mars was near its perihelion
point.  When Mars is nearer to its aphelion point, it reaches an
apparent size of about 13 arcseconds in diamter --- an arcsecond
is an angular measure and there are 3600 arcseconds in a degree.
When Mars is nearer to its perihelion point, its size is more like
24 or 25 arcseconds.  Quite a difference!

As I said, the time between oppositions is about 25 months.  The
time between oppositions near Mars perihelion is about 15 years.
This year, opposition occurs closer to Mars' perihelion point than
it ever has in recorded history and so will be the biggest view
ever attained.  The next perihelion opposition will be 31 July 2018 and 
Mars should be about 24 arcseconds in size and be about 57.6 million km away.

And now, the observing details:

The following table was generated using JPL's online ephemerides site.
Times are all EDT (which should be the same local time for most sites if 
you are on the equivalent of U.S. daylight time).  Dates and times are
given for Mars rise (r), transit (t), and set (s).  The C, N, A and * in
the second column stand for civil, nautical and astronomical twilight and day
light, respectively.  Ob-lon is the longitude on Mars facing the observer
(also called CM); Ob-lat is the corresponding latitude.


 Date_(ZONE)_HR:MN     R.A._(ICRF/J2000.0)_DEC  APmag Ang-dia Ob-lon Ob-lat Cnst
 2003-Jul-31 03:27  t  22 55 47.80 -13 26 35.0  -2.31  22.243 328.08 -20.15  Aqr
 2003-Jul-31 08:46 *s  22 55 46.37 -13 27 17.4  -2.32  22.281  45.82 -20.14  Aqr
 2003-Jul-31 22:11  r  22 55 46.95 -13 29 15.4  -2.33  22.380 241.99 -20.11  Aqr
 2003-Aug-01 03:21  t  22 55 44.98 -13 30 04.8  -2.34  22.419 317.55 -20.10  Aqr
 2003-Aug-01 08:40 *s  22 55 42.85 -13 30 50.1  -2.35  22.457  35.29 -20.09  Aqr
 2003-Aug-01 22:05  r  22 55 41.70 -13 32 55.5  -2.36  22.554 231.47 -20.05  Aqr
 2003-Aug-02 03:15  t  22 55 39.07 -13 33 47.8  -2.37  22.593 307.03 -20.04  Aqr
 2003-Aug-02 08:34 *s  22 55 36.23 -13 34 36.0  -2.37  22.629  24.78 -20.03  Aqr
 2003-Aug-02 21:59 Ar  22 55 33.38 -13 36 48.5  -2.39  22.725 220.96 -20.00  Aqr
 2003-Aug-03 03:18  t  22 55 29.97 -13 37 45.0  -2.40  22.764 298.71 -19.99  Aqr
 2003-Aug-03 08:28 *s  22 55 26.55 -13 38 34.5  -2.40  22.799  14.27 -19.98  Aqr
 2003-Aug-03 21:53 Ar  22 55 22.00 -13 40 53.7  -2.42  22.893 210.46 -19.95  Aqr
 2003-Aug-04 03:12  t  22 55 17.92 -13 41 53.0  -2.42  22.931 288.22 -19.94  Aqr
 2003-Aug-04 08:22 *s  22 55 13.82 -13 42 44.9  -2.43  22.965   3.78 -19.93  Aqr
 2003-Aug-04 21:56 Ar  22 55 07.49 -13 45 12.3  -2.44  23.058 202.17 -19.90  Aqr
 2003-Aug-05 03:06  t  22 55 02.85 -13 46 12.4  -2.45  23.094 277.74 -19.88  Aqr
 2003-Aug-05 08:25 *s  22 54 57.97 -13 47 08.3  -2.46  23.129 355.50 -19.87  Aqr
 2003-Aug-05 21:50 Ar  22 54 50.08 -13 49 40.3  -2.47  23.218 191.70 -19.84  Aqr
 2003-Aug-06 03:00  t  22 54 44.79 -13 50 42.7  -2.48  23.254 267.27 -19.83  Aqr
 2003-Aug-06 08:19 *s  22 54 39.24 -13 51 40.9  -2.48  23.287 345.03 -19.82  Aqr
 2003-Aug-06 21:44 Ar  22 54 29.71 -13 54 18.6  -2.50  23.374 181.25 -19.79  Aqr
 2003-Aug-07 02:54  t  22 54 23.79 -13 55 23.2  -2.50  23.408 256.82 -19.78  Aqr
 2003-Aug-07 08:13 *s  22 54 17.58 -13 56 23.5  -2.51  23.441 334.58 -19.77  Aqr
 2003-Aug-07 21:38 Ar  22 54 06.43 -13 59 06.5  -2.52  23.525 170.80 -19.74  Aqr
 2003-Aug-08 02:57  t  22 53 59.68 -14 00 15.0  -2.53  23.560 248.57 -19.73  Aqr
 2003-Aug-08 08:07 *s  22 53 53.02 -14 01 15.5  -2.53  23.590 324.14 -19.72  Aqr
 2003-Aug-08 21:32 Ar  22 53 40.29 -14 04 03.4  -2.55  23.671 160.37 -19.69  Aqr
 2003-Aug-09 02:51  t  22 53 32.91 -14 05 13.9  -2.55  23.705 238.14 -19.68  Aqr
 2003-Aug-09 08:01 *s  22 53 25.62 -14 06 16.2  -2.56  23.734 313.71 -19.67  Aqr
 2003-Aug-09 21:35 Ar  22 53 11.13 -14 09 10.5  -2.57  23.814 152.14 -19.64  Aqr
 2003-Aug-10 02:45  t  22 53 03.32 -14 10 20.7  -2.58  23.845 227.72 -19.63  Aqr
 2003-Aug-10 07:55 *s  22 52 55.42 -14 11 24.7  -2.58  23.873 303.30 -19.62  Aqr
 2003-Aug-10 21:29 Ar  22 52 39.38 -14 14 23.1  -2.60  23.949 141.73 -19.59  Aqr
 2003-Aug-11 02:39  t  22 52 30.99 -14 15 34.9  -2.60  23.979 217.31 -19.58  Aqr
 2003-Aug-11 07:58 *s  22 52 22.27 -14 16 42.1  -2.61  24.007 295.09 -19.57  Aqr
 2003-Aug-11 21:23 Ar  22 52 04.93 -14 19 42.3  -2.62  24.079 131.33 -19.54  Aqr
 2003-Aug-12 02:33  t  22 51 55.96 -14 20 55.5  -2.63  24.108 206.92 -19.53  Aqr
 2003-Aug-12 07:52 *s  22 51 46.64 -14 22 04.0  -2.63  24.134 284.69 -19.53  Aqr
 2003-Aug-12 21:17 Ar  22 51 27.84 -14 25 07.4  -2.65  24.203 120.95 -19.50  Aqr
 2003-Aug-13 02:27  t  22 51 18.31 -14 26 21.7  -2.65  24.230 196.53 -19.49  Aqr
 2003-Aug-13 07:46 *s  22 51 08.40 -14 27 31.4  -2.66  24.255 274.31 -19.48  Aqr
 2003-Aug-13 21:11 Ar  22 50 48.18 -14 30 37.4  -2.67  24.320 110.57 -19.45  Aqr
 2003-Aug-14 02:30  t  22 50 37.80 -14 31 54.9  -2.67  24.347 188.35 -19.44  Aqr
 2003-Aug-14 07:40 *s  22 50 27.62 -14 33 03.4  -2.68  24.369 263.94 -19.44  Aqr
 2003-Aug-14 21:14 Ar  22 50 05.75 -14 36 13.8  -2.69  24.431 102.40 -19.41  Aqr
 2003-Aug-15 02:24  t  22 49 55.11 -14 37 29.8  -2.70  24.456 177.99 -19.40  Aqr
 2003-Aug-15 07:34 *s  22 49 44.40 -14 38 39.0  -2.70  24.477 253.58 -19.39  Aqr
 2003-Aug-15 21:08 Ar  22 49 21.19 -14 41 51.0  -2.71  24.534  92.04 -19.37  Aqr
 2003-Aug-16 02:18  t  22 49 10.04 -14 43 07.7  -2.72  24.557 167.63 -19.36  Aqr
 2003-Aug-16 07:28 *s  22 48 58.82 -14 44 17.4  -2.72  24.577 243.22 -19.35  Aqr
 2003-Aug-16 21:02 Ar  22 48 34.33 -14 47 30.5  -2.73  24.630  81.69 -19.32  Aqr
 2003-Aug-17 02:12  t  22 48 22.70 -14 48 47.6  -2.74  24.652 157.29 -19.32  Aqr
 2003-Aug-17 07:22 *s  22 48 10.99 -14 49 57.5  -2.74  24.669 232.88 -19.31  Aqr
 2003-Aug-17 20:56 Nr  22 47 45.29 -14 53 11.1  -2.75  24.719  71.35 -19.29  Aqr
 2003-Aug-18 02:06  t  22 47 33.19 -14 54 28.3  -2.76  24.738 146.95 -19.28  Aqr
 2003-Aug-18 07:16 *s  22 47 21.02 -14 55 38.4  -2.76  24.754 222.54 -19.27  Aqr
 2003-Aug-18 20:50 Nr  22 46 54.17 -14 58 51.8  -2.77  24.799  61.02 -19.25  Aqr
 2003-Aug-19 02:00  t  22 46 41.65 -15 00 09.0  -2.78  24.817 136.62 -19.24  Aqr
 2003-Aug-19 07:10 *s  22 46 29.04 -15 01 18.8  -2.78  24.831 212.22 -19.23  Aqr
 2003-Aug-19 20:44 Nr  22 46 01.11 -15 04 31.6  -2.79  24.871  50.70 -19.21  Aqr
 2003-Aug-20 01:54  t  22 45 48.18 -15 05 48.5  -2.80  24.887 126.30 -19.20  Aqr
 2003-Aug-20 07:04 *s  22 45 35.17 -15 06 57.9  -2.80  24.899 201.90 -19.20  Aqr
 2003-Aug-20 20:47 Nr  22 45 05.88 -15 10 11.6  -2.81  24.935  42.58 -19.18  Aqr
 2003-Aug-21 01:57  t  22 44 52.55 -15 11 27.7  -2.81  24.949 118.18 -19.17  Aqr
 2003-Aug-21 07:07 *s  22 44 39.20 -15 12 36.3  -2.82  24.959 193.78 -19.16  Aqr
 2003-Aug-21 20:41 Nr  22 44 09.35 -15 15 46.1  -2.83  24.990  32.26 -19.14  Aqr
 2003-Aug-22 01:51  t  22 43 55.68 -15 17 01.5  -2.83  25.002 107.87 -19.14  Aqr
 2003-Aug-22 07:01 *s  22 43 41.99 -15 18 09.2  -2.83  25.010 183.47 -19.13  Aqr
 2003-Aug-22 20:35 Nr  22 43 11.31 -15 21 16.3  -2.84  25.035  21.96 -19.11  Aqr
 2003-Aug-23 01:45  t  22 42 57.34 -15 22 30.7  -2.84  25.046  97.56 -19.11  Aqr
 2003-Aug-23 06:55 *s  22 42 43.35 -15 23 37.2  -2.85  25.052 173.16 -19.10  Aqr
 2003-Aug-23 20:29 Nr  22 42 11.94 -15 26 41.1  -2.85  25.072  11.66 -19.09  Aqr
 2003-Aug-24 01:39  t  22 41 57.70 -15 27 54.1  -2.86  25.080  87.26 -19.08  Aqr
 2003-Aug-24 06:49 *s  22 41 43.45 -15 28 59.3  -2.86  25.085 162.86 -19.08  Aqr
 2003-Aug-24 20:23 Nr  22 41 11.40 -15 31 59.2  -2.86  25.100   1.36 -19.06  Aqr
 2003-Aug-25 01:33  t  22 40 56.94 -15 33 10.8  -2.87  25.106  76.97 -19.05  Aqr
 2003-Aug-25 06:43 *s  22 40 42.46 -15 34 14.3  -2.87  25.108 152.57 -19.05  Aqr
 2003-Aug-25 20:17 Nr  22 40 09.88 -15 37 09.6  -2.87  25.118 351.07 -19.04  Aqr
 2003-Aug-26 01:27  t  22 39 55.23 -15 38 19.4  -2.88  25.122  66.67 -19.03  Aqr
 2003-Aug-26 06:37 *s  22 39 40.57 -15 39 21.1  -2.88  25.122 142.28 -19.03  Aqr
 2003-Aug-26 20:20 Nr  22 39 07.15 -15 42 13.2  -2.88  25.126 342.97 -19.01  Aqr
 2003-Aug-27 01:21  t  22 38 52.76 -15 43 18.9  -2.88  25.128  56.38 -19.01  Aqr
 2003-Aug-27 06:31 *s  22 38 37.96 -15 44 18.4  -2.88  25.127 131.98 -19.01  Aqr
 2003-Aug-27 20:14 Nr  22 38 04.22 -15 47 04.7  -2.88  25.125 332.68 -19.00  Aqr
 2003-Aug-28 01:15  t  22 37 49.74 -15 48 08.2  -2.88  25.125  46.09 -18.99  Aqr
 2003-Aug-28 06:25 Cs  22 37 34.83 -15 49 05.3  -2.88  25.122 121.69 -18.99  Aqr
 2003-Aug-28 20:08 Nr  22 37 00.88 -15 51 45.0  -2.88  25.115 322.39 -18.98  Aqr
 2003-Aug-29 01:18  t  22 36 45.89 -15 52 47.8  -2.88  25.113  37.99 -18.98  Aqr
 2003-Aug-29 06:19 Cs  22 36 31.38 -15 53 40.7  -2.88  25.107 111.40 -18.98  Aqr
 2003-Aug-29 20:02 Cr  22 35 57.34 -15 56 13.2  -2.88  25.095 312.10 -18.97  Aqr
 2003-Aug-30 01:12  t  22 35 42.34 -15 57 13.2  -2.88  25.091  27.70 -18.96  Aqr
 2003-Aug-30 06:13 Cs  22 35 27.81 -15 58 03.4  -2.88  25.083 101.11 -18.96  Aqr
 2003-Aug-30 19:56 Cr  22 34 53.78 -16 00 28.2  -2.87  25.065 301.81 -18.96  Aqr
 2003-Aug-31 01:06  t  22 34 38.81 -16 01 25.3  -2.87  25.059  17.41 -18.95  Aqr
 2003-Aug-31 06:07 Cs  22 34 24.31 -16 02 12.5  -2.87  25.049  90.82 -18.96  Aqr
 2003-Aug-31 19:50 Cr  22 33 50.42 -16 04 29.0  -2.86  25.026 291.51 -18.95  Aqr
 
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Dust Storms and Observations

It looks as though the dust activity that had been spilling out of Hellas
Basin has begun to subside.  TES measurements (http://tes.asu.edu) of
dust optical depth in the area indicate that the amounts of airborne
dust have decreased and the late July images from all our MarsWatch
participants are in agreement.  The brightness in red over Hellas looks
a bit diminished from the beginning of the month, and the surrounding area
also looks less active.  Our ground-based near-infrared observing at
the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) has begun but optical depth
measurements will be forthcoming.  We hope to have images to place on
the MarsWatch site "soon".

Visually, the south polar cap is quite prominant with dark material
showing up about mid way between the cap edge and the pole.  The cap is
especially bright in a blue filter.  In the near-infrared, the cap is
quite dark indicating plenty of water-based ices.  There is little
indication of blue (ice) clouds at this time.

Due to the exteremly high volume of images for the month of July, that
page has been broken into five parts --- one for each week in the month.
For those with particularly fast connections, the full page does still
exist.  I assume a similar volume of images for August and will thus
follow the same procedure.

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Mars Explorer Rovers

Opportunity (MER-B) successfully lifted off from Florida, 7 July at 
15:18 UT and the two spacecraft are no en route to Mars.  You can track
their travel progress at the JPL web site 
	http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/mission/spiritrightnow.html
Both spacecraft have undergone their first trajectory correction burns
and spin-rate reductions for cruise to Mars.

You can get more information at the offical MER web site 
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/ .

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Mars Express

On 4 and 5 July the Beagle lander was put through its first tests.
Tests included uploading software and switching sytsems on and off
and everything is working as expected.  Other spacecraft instruements
were tested by pointing them back at Earth and taking data.  You can
see a nice "farewell" picture taken by Mars Express of the Earth-Moon
system at http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMIKPXO4HD_0.html.

See the offical web site at http://sci.esa.int/marsexpress/ for more 
information and updates and http://www.beagle2.com/ for for information
on the Beagle probe.

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Mars Odyssey

The THEMIS instrument is providing us with some very nice high-resolution
images of the planet.  For example, South Polar Layered Deposits
(http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030717a.html), and lava flows on the 
southern flank of Arsia Mons (http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030731a.html).
All the latest images are displayed at http://themis.la.asu.edu/latest.html.

One of the most interesting scientific results from the GRS on Odyssey
is just how much water there is on Mars with a significant fraction of
that locked up in subsurface regions as a sort of permafrost.  You can
read more about the experiment, and see the impressive maps, at
http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/news/releases/archive/03-101.shtml.


You can get more information at the official Odyssey web site
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/ .

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Mars Global Surveyor

As noted above, the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) folks are continuing
to produce dust optical depth maps which allow them to track the dust
storms we all are seeing visually.  Along with these maps, they continue
to map atmospheric temperature and both daytime nighttime surface
temperatures.  Note that atmospheric temperature is another indicator
of dust storm activity.  The dust lofted into the air is very warm and
will heat the surrounding air.  This is especially evident in measurements
from the 2001 global dust storm; you can see these results at the TES
website http://tes.asu.edu/dustindex.html.

The Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) is continuing to bring us stunning images
of the surface including some ground fogs 
	http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/07/17/
and even small puffy clouds
	http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/07/23/
not visible at ground-based resolutions.  Something that may be even
more interesting to those of us using ground-based telescopes are the
views of the north polar region
	http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/07/10/index.html

Check out all the latest image releases at http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc

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Marswatch WWW site --- http://elvis.rowan.edu/marswatch

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Questions, comments, concerns, and contributions to:
David R. Klassen                          voice: 856-256-4500 x3273
Department of Physics & Astronomy         fax: 856-256-4478
Rowan University
201 Mullica Hill Road                     klassen@rowan.edu
Glassboro, NJ 08028                       http://elvis.rowan.edu/~klassen