Marswatch 1998-1999 Apparition Linking Amateur and Professional Mars Observing Communities.

Images - 1999 February
    (All times U. T. - Images not to scale.)

01

No images.

02

Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Lynxx PC camera 16-in (41cm) f/6 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/47.8

Integration Times:
   Blue (BG12 + IR Rejection)   15.75s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)   5.00s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)  0.53s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing fair-good (6-7). Transparency 4.0m. occassional haze; HIGH SE winds, 0-15 knots, no dew. Difficult imaging because of gusty winds.
Clouds across Syrtis Major, Libya, Aeria-Arabia, forming ECB, conspicuous in blue light. Hellas not bright in red, but dull cloud noted over Hellas in green and blue.

03

No images.

04

Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Lynxx PC camera 16-in (41cm) f/6 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/47.8

Integration Times:
   Blue (BG12 + IR Rejection)  14.50s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)   4.50s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)  0.50s
Seeing fair (5-6). Transparency 5.0m. Light ESE wind, 0-4 knots, no dew.
Clouds across Syrtis Major, Libya, Aeria-Arabia, forming ECB, conspicuous in blue light. Elysium bright in blue light on evening limb. Hellas not bright in red, but dull cloud noted over Hellas in green and blue.

05

Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Lynxx PC camera 16-in (41cm) f/6 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/47.8

Integration Times:
   Blue (BG12 + IR Rejection)  16.50s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)    5.75s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)   0.58s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing POOR (5->3). Transparency poor, 3.5-4.0m. No wind. Moderate dew.
Clouds across Syrtis Major, Libya, Aeria-Arabia, forming ECB, conspicuous in blue light. Elysium bright in blue light on evening limb. Hellas not bright in red, but dull cloud noted over Hellas in green and blue.

06-07

No images.

08

Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Lynxx PC camera 16-in (41cm) f/6 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/47.8

Integration Times:
   Blue (BG12 + IR Rejection)  14.00s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)    4.88s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)   0.53s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing fair to good (6->7). Transparency good, 4.5m. No wind. Moderate dew.
Syrtis Blue Cloud. Clouds over Libya becomong confluent with Elysium cloud. Dull cloud over Hellas.

09

Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Lynxx PC camera 16-in (41cm) f/6 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/47.8

Integration Times:
   Blue (BG12 + IR Rejection)  18.00s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)    6.00s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)   0.63s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing fair to good (5->7). Transparency poor (4.5m) with fog. No wind. Heavy dew.
Syrtis Blue Cloud. Clouds over Libya becomong confluent with Elysium cloud. Dull cloud over Hellas.

10

No images.

11

Ted Stryk
4.5-in (11.5 cm) f/9 Newtonian, #25 and #80A filters

Seeing 9. Transparency 4.
Large cloud on terminator south of North Polar Cap. Also, bright cloud in far south. No dust. Southern albedo features sharp.

Frank J. Melillo

You can Syrtis Major right on the morning limb and also, Mare Tyrrhenum and Mare Cimmerium along the southern limb. The North Polar Cap was barely visible with some dark shadings around it. With a red filter Wr. #25, this indicates that Mars was free of dust."

12-13

No images.

14

Denis Fell, New Sweden, Alberta, Canada (113.16W, 52.55N), email:dfell@telusplanet.net
8-in (20cm) f/10 SCT, 200x to 300x, #21 orange filter

01:58 MST (08:58 UT)
Seeing Antoniadi IV-V, Martian diameter 8.96", CM: 170°, D_e: 16.87, Phase .91
Planet blurred most of the time by upper air turbulence, occasional detail seen in quiet moments.

Brian Colville, Maple Ridge Observatory, Cambray, ON Canada (79.15W, 44.28N), email:maple@quicklinks.on.ca
Pixcel 237 CCD Camera, Med Resolution - 2x2 binning, 14.8u 11-in (30cm) f/10 SCT at efr: f/60.

08:07 UT; Calibration: Dark only; Processing: Unsharp Mask via MaximCCD.
Seeing: poor (3/10), Martian diameter 8.9", CM: 208°, Phase: .91
Filters: IR Passing 830nm, 100nm FWHM.

15

No images.

16

Ted Stryk
4.5-in (11.5 cm) f/9 Newtonian, #25 and #80A filters

Seeing 9. Transparency 6.
Large cloud on limb in far south, seen with all filters, though barely in Red. In blue, clouds on terminator and on limb visible south of North Polar Cap. Albedo features very well defined in Red. The polar cap was much easier to see than on February 11 - might there have been clouds there on either date?

15

No images.

16

Ted Stryk
4.5-in (11.5 cm) f/9 Newtonian, #25 and #80A filters

Seeing 9. Transparency 6.
Large cloud on limb in far south, seen with all filters, though barely in Red. In blue, clouds on terminator and on limb visible south of North Polar Cap. Albedo features very well defined in Red. The polar cap was much easier to see than on February 11 - might there have been clouds there on either date?

17-20

No images.

21

Carlos E. Hernandez
8-in (20 cm) f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain, Wratten #23A, #38A and #58 filters. February 21, 1999 at 06:00 UT (CM=067.8°, L_s=100.2°, D_e=15.91°)

The North Polar cap (NPC) appears small and brilliant (10/10) surrounded by a dark (3/10) collar comprised of Mare Acidalium, Mare Boreum, and Nerigos. Mare Acidalium appears dark (3/10) whereas Niliacus Lacus, Idaeus Fons and the preceding portion of Nilokeras appear dusky to dark (3-4/10). Dardanus appears as a thin, dusky (4/10) projection extending from the following border of Idaeus Fons. The following half of Nilokeras, Lunae Lacus and Ganges appear to be obscured by a bright (7/10) veil (or cloud). Mare Erythraeum, Aurora Sinus and Agathodaemon (Coprates) appear dark (3/10), as well as Nectar and Solis Lacus north of an extremely bright (9/10) South Polar Hood (SPH). Trivium Charontis appears dark (3/10) adjacent to an extremely bright (9/10) morning limb haze (MLH). Eumenides-Orcus appears as a thin, dusky (4/10) albedo feature extending from Trivium Charontis over Amazonis. The Chryse-Xanthe region appears very bright (including in red light W23A) which may indicate the presence of dust in the Martian atmosphere as reported by David Gray (BAA Mars Section) on the same date.

22

No images.

23

David M. Moore, Pheonix, Arizona, E-mail: davidpaulamoore@email.msn.com
Astrovid 2000 video camera, processed w/snappy, Megafix, and Paint Shop Pro; 14.25-in (36cm) f/13.5 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/35

Filters: W-25; W-38; W-47; W-57. All with infrared blocker filter.
Diameter: 9.7"; L_s=101.0°; CM: 134.07°-136.2° W.; D_e: 16.02°
Seeing: 3-4, Transparency 3.5, Clear, Blue (Violet) Clearing: 0.5?
Nix Olympica near central meridian. Bright evening feature prominent in green light lying SW to NE. Tharsis shield volcanoes? Evening clouds in blue and violet.

24

Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Lynxx PC camera 16-in (41cm) f/6 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/47.8

Integration Times:
   Blue (BG12 + IR Rejection)  14.00s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)    4.50s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)   0.45s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing poor (2-3), post cold front. Transparency 5m. Northwest wind 0-2 knots.
No dew. Solis lacus dark on terminator; Agathadaemon, Tithonius complex, and Daemon visible. Very conspicuous cloud over Xanthe-Candor extending across Tharsis. ECB? Visually, this cloud was not especially bright in red (W25) but very bright in green (W58) and fairly bright in blue (W47). Bright morning limb cloud.

Daniel P. Joyce, Chicago, Illinois
18" f/6 RL 450x 02/24/99 11:10-11:20 UT

CM: 115°; L_s:102°; D_e: 15.6°
Filters: W#23A, W#80A
Seeing 7; Transparency: 3.5

Very prominent ECB with W#80A filter.

25

No images.

26

Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Lynxx PC camera 16-in (41cm) f/6 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/47.8

Integration Times:
   Blue (BG12 + IR Rejection)  12.00s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)    3.88s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)   0.40s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing fair to poor (4-6). Transparency 5m. Northwest wind 0-4 knots. No dew.
Solis lacus dark. Very conspicuous cloud over Chryse-Xanthe-Candor extending across Tharsis to bright evening limb cloud. ECB?

The seeing was absolutely incredible. I have used this telescope on Mars at every opposition since 1990, and never gotten a view this good - and that speaks volumes, considering the planet was 18" in 1990. I was able to employ a 4mm eyepiece with a 2x barlow to get a fantastic view. Photography was largely a failure, and I don't think it will be useful to keep trying with the 4-1/2 inch, and instead I will focus on visual observation. One photo was decent enough to show the southern albedo features, hint at the north polar casp, and the bright cloud to the south seen in the drawings. Visually, there were numerous clouds on the terminator and limb, though none centrally located on the disk. Most interestingly, the a small patch, indicated by the dotted line on the red light drawing seemed a bit bright in red light. While I am not confident that it was dust, it is worth looking into it. I don't think that it was within the area of the clouds seen in blue - however, since the Candor/Tharis bright patch could only be seen in red, and the clouds could not be seen well in blue, and were only hinted at without a filter, locating them relative to each other on the composite drawing was subjective.

27

Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Lynxx PC camera 16-in (41cm) f/6 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/47.8

Integration Times:
   Blue (BG12 + IR Rejection)  11.63s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)    3.88s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)   0.41s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing fair (6). Transparency 5m. No wind. Heavy dew.
Solis lacus dark. Very conspicuous cloud over Chryse-Xanthe-Candor extending across Tharsis to bright evening limb cloud. ECB?

David M. Moore, Pheonix, Arizona, E-mail: davidpaulamoore@email.msn.com
Astrovid 2000 video camera, processed w/snappy, Megafix, and Paint Shop Pro; 14.25-in (36cm) f/13.5 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/35

Filters: W-25; W-38; W-47; W-57. All with infrared blocker filter.
Diameter: 10.17"; L_s=102.8°; CM: 96.61° W.; D_e: 15.71°
Seeing: 3-4, Transparency 3.5, Clear, Blue (Violet) Clearing: 1
I am a little confused over the green intensities which came through on the tri-color as much as I tried I could not make them go away. Strong frost in the vicinity of the north and south polar areas. Chryse bright blending into an almost equatorial cloud band in blue light. Solis Lacus not apparent, though it is near the central meridian.

28

Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Donald C. Parker, Coral Gables, Florida
Lynxx PC camera 16-in (41cm) f/6 Newtonian, Eyepiece Projection @ f/47.8

Integration Times:
   Blue (BG12 + IR Rejection)  11.50-12.25s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)    4.00-4.38s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)   0.43-0.48s
   Infrared (750-825 nm)             6.25s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing very good (7-8); pre cold front. Transparency 4.5m. No wind. Heavy dew.
Solis lacus dark. Bright localized cloud in southern Chryse near Hydrae S.,rotated with planet. "Canal" Hydraotes seen in red light images. Haze crossing Ganges into Candor.

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