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

Images - 1999 June 1-14
    (All times U. T. - Images not to scale. Click on image for more or larger scale views where available.)

1

Tomio Akutsu, Japan; E-mail: is6t-akt@asahi-net.or.jp
32cm F/6.5 Reflector Telers2 KAF0400E CCD

Marco Eckstein, Roedental, Germany, E-mail: starlight@coburg.baynet.de
Hitachi Hi8 Videocamera; 8-inch (20 cm) Schmidt-Cass. (LX-10); Eyepiece Projection with a 10mm Plossl (200x).
20:20 UT; CM 101°

Seeing: average (~5/10)
North Polar cap is easily seen - bright clouds over Chryse but Tempe doesn´t look so bright as the day before - morning clouds over Amazonis - South Polar Cap is seen?

Lorenzo Comolli, Gruppo Astronomico Tradatese, Tradate (VA), Italy. Email: comolli@dido.net
ST-4 camera; 8-inch (20 cm) Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope; Projection at f/27.

20:00 U.T.; CM: 96°
Average of 20 images; Elaborated with Qmips32 v1.8.

António Cidadão, Oeiras, Portugal
ST-5C camera 10-in (25cm) f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain

Seeing conditions: average (5/10).

Clouds over Thaumasia, Daedalia, Syria, Chryse, Mare Boreum. Xante-Niliacus Lacus region, near the limb, appears "light" on R-filtered images.

J. Porto, Azores

2

Jure Atanackov, Bucanje, Mali Losinj, Croatia, E-mail: excel@siol.net
10-inch (25 cm) LX200 f/10 SCT, Magnification: 508x

20:00 UT, CM: 86°.
Seeing: 10+ (1-10); Transaprency: 6 (1-6)

Jure Zakrajsek, Kamnica, Slovenia, E-mail: excel@siol.net
8-inch (20 cm) LX50 f/10 SCT, Magnification: 125x, 500x, Filters: green

20:00 UT, CM: 86°.
Seeing: 7 (1-10); Transaprency: 5 (1-6)

António Cidadão, Oeiras, Portugal
ST-5C camera 10-in (25cm) f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain

Seeing conditions are improving slightly (6/10).

Clouds over Thaumasia, Daedalia, Sinai, Syria, Chryse, Mnemonia. Red images show possible dust on Mare Boreum (black arrowhead), close to NPC. This feature was not visible in previous images (e.g. 1999/05/02 Y/M/D), namely those obtained the days before, but seeing conditions were quite unfavourable at the moment. However a cloud was present at Mare Boreum on 1999/05/01. Red images also show Chasma Borealis on NPC (white arrow)

3

Stefan Buda & Bratislav Curcic, Melbourne, Australia (5km from the city centre).
Homemade CB211 clone CCD with a mechanical shutter; 10-in. (25.4 cm) f/16 Dall-Kirkham (homemade) + 3X Barlow (effective f/48). No filters.

Friedrich Sussmann, St. Radegund, Austria, (15.50 E, 47.15 N), E-mail: friedrich.sussmann@iic.wifi.at
OES-LCCD11 Camera (KAF 400 Chip); 12-inch (300mm) f/7 Homemade Newtonian; Positive Projection with Sonnar Projectiv 20mm. EFL:14000mm. Composite of 4 - 8 frames.

18:44 U.T.
Seeing: 6/10

Integration times:
  Red Image:    0.25s
  Green Image: 0.50s
  Blue Image:   3.00s

Marco Eckstein, Roedental, Germany, E-mail: starlight@coburg.baynet.de
Hitachi Hi8 Videocamera; 8-inch (20 cm) Schmidt-Cass. (LX-10); Eyepiece Projection with a 10mm Plossl (200x).
~20:25 UT; CM ~84°

Seeing: changing (2-6/10); Weather conditions: cirrus clouds and cumulus from the west
North Polar cap is easily seen - bright clouds over Chryse and Xanthe stretching to Niliacus Lacus - some clouds over Mare Erythraeum - South Polar Hood is seen

António Cidadão, Oeiras, Portugal
ST-5C camera 10-in (25cm) f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain

Seeing conditions (5-6/10).

Clouds over Thaumasia, Daedalia, Sinai, Syria, Chryse, Scandia. Red images continue to show possible dust cloud on Mare Boreum (black arrowhead), close to North Polar Cap (NPC). Cloud's appearance is slightly different than on June 2 images, namely being more elongated to the southwest (celestial). Red images also show Chasma Borealis on NPC (white arrow)

4

Mark Schmidt, Racine, Wisconsin; 88.02861° W 44.72889° N; E-mail: rasastro@wi.net
ST-5C CCD camera; 14-in (35 cm) f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain; Projection at f/44.

 L_s: 149.0°; D_e: 22.5°; Diameter: 14.0”

U.T.	CM:	Int. time:	Filter	Seeing:	Transparency:
02:53 (left);	178.35°	0.14s	23A & IR Rejection Filter	#5/10	1.5 mag.	(twilight), patchy thin clouds
03:01 (center);	180.30°	1.10s	Near IR 800-1100nm, IR Passing/Visible Rejection	#5/10	2 mag.	patchy thin clouds
03:30 (right);	187.37°	1.20s	Near IR 800-1100nm, IR Passing/Visible Rejection	#5/10	2 mag.	patchy thin clouds

Murnaghan Instruments Filters.
Processing: CCDSoft-Image Processing Software; Skypro-Image Processing Software

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)   12.87s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)    4.29s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)   0.37s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing good (8-9) but high winds (NE 0-12 knots). Transparency 5.0m, occasional clouds.
South limb clouds (?SPH) prominent. No Elysium cloud. Cerberus- Trivium still only two dots. Hades broad, dusky and very dark and conspicuous in green and blue light. Dusky streak again noted along N. border of Sirenum M. and Cimmerium M. Cloud south of North Polar Cap (NPC) (Lemuria). Bright evening limb arc but no conspicuous orographics. Diffuse cloud over Amazonis, Arcadia, and Tharsis.

Tomio Akutsu, Japan; E-mail: is6t-akt@asahi-net.or.jp
32cm F/6.5 Reflector Telers2 KAF0400E CCD

5

Ron Zachary, Rochester Hills, Michigan, (83.05° W, 42.38° N), E-mail: rzachary@compuserve.com
Starlight Xpress MX5c; 14-inch (35 cm) f/11 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope; Positive Projection at f/44. Color separations performed using MaxIm DL software.

02:40:55 U.T.; CM: 166°; Integration time: 0.30s
Seeing: 4-5/10; Transparency: 3/6.

Frank J. Melillo, Holtsville, New York, FrankJ12@aol.com

Friedrich Sussmann, St. Radegund, Austria, (15.50 E, 47.15 N), E-mail: friedrich.sussmann@iic.wifi.at
OES-LCCD11 Camera (KAF 400 Chip); 12-inch (300mm) f/7 Homemade Newtonian; Positive Projection with Sonnar Projectiv 20mm. EFL:14000mm. Composite of 4 - 8 frames.

18:55 U.T. (left);
20:03 U.T. (center);
20:55 U.T. (right);
Seeing: 6/10

Integration times:
  Red Image:    0.25s
  Green Image: 0.50s
  Blue Image:   3.00s

Ricardo Nunes, Lisbon, Portugal, E-mail: mop23816@mail.telepac.pt
Black & White QuickCam with adaptations, 4.5 inch Equatorial Reflector

Each image is the average of about 20 individual frames.

The color composites were made using a unfiltered image (infrared filtered removed) and one taken through the infrared blocking filter that comes with the QuickCam. The first image is coded as Red and and the second as Green/Blue. When assembled in such a way in Photoshop they provide, once the color balance has been adjusted, a convincent color image. But some caution should be necessary on the interpretation of results.

Due to the equipment used the images need a lot of processing to bring out details. Also the camera's dinamic range is small (6 bits) leading to the presence of some noise in the final images. These constraints mean that small features in the images are to some extent camera and processing artefacts.

António Cidadão, Oeiras, Portugal ST-5C camera 10-in (25cm) f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain Seeing conditions were relatively unfavourable (3-4/10). Clouds over Aonius Sinus, Sinai, Syria, Ganges, Chryse, Tharsis, Arcadia (and Scandia ?). Chasma Borealis visible on North Polar Cap (NPC) in some of the R images (white arrow). The possible dust cloud detected on June 2 near the NPC seems to be disappearing (?). Only a residual elongated light albedo region is present at that site (black arrowhead). Interpretation is difficult due to unfavourable seeing conditions.

6

David M. Moore, Phoenix, Arizona;
E-mail: davidpaulamoore@email.msn.com

Friedrich Sussmann, St. Radegund, Austria, (15.50 E, 47.15 N), E-mail: friedrich.sussmann@iic.wifi.at
OES-LCCD11 Camera (KAF 400 Chip); 12-inch (300mm) f/7 Homemade Newtonian; Positive Projection with Sonnar Projectiv 20mm. EFL:14000mm. Composite of 4 - 8 frames.

19:54 U.T.
Seeing: 6/10

Integration times:
  Red Image:    0.25s
  Green Image: 0.50s
  Blue Image:   3.00s

António Cidadão, Oeiras, Portugal
ST-5C camera 10-in (25cm) f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain

Seeing conditions were relatively unfavourable (3-4/10).

Clouds over Aonius Sinus, Sinai, Syria, Ganges, Chryse, Tharsis, Arcadia. SP hood visible (?). The possible dust cloud detected on June 2 near the North Polar Cap (NPC) seems to be disappearing (?). Please compare with the region marked with a black arrowhead on images obtained on June 2, 3 and 5. Current interpretation is difficult due to unfavourable seeing conditions.

7

Samuel R. Whitby, Hopewell, Virginia, E-mail: whitbyu@erols.com
6-inch (15.2 cm) home-made reflector, 310x.

.01:40 UT (CM: 133°), Wratten 80A; 01:50 UT (CM: 136°), Wratten 21;
Seeing: 8-9; Transparency: 4.

Frank J. Melillo, Holtsville, New York, FrankJ12@aol.com

Ricardo Nunes, Lisbon, Portugal, E-mail: mop23816@mail.telepac.pt
Black & White QuickCam with adaptations, 4.5 inch Equatorial Reflector

Each image is the average of about 20 individual frames.

The color composites were made using a unfiltered image (infrared filtered removed) and one taken through the infrared blocking filter that comes with the QuickCam. The first image is coded as Red and and the second as Green/Blue. When assembled in such a way in Photoshop they provide, once the color balance has been adjusted, a convincent color image. But some caution should be necessary on the interpretation of results.

Due to the equipment used the images need a lot of processing to bring out details. Also the camera's dinamic range is small (6 bits) leading to the presence of some noise in the final images. These constraints mean that small features in the images are to some extent camera and processing artefacts. Nevertheless large features as Syrtis Majoris are clearly visible and reasonably well defined.

António Cidadão, Oeiras, Portugal
ST-5C camera 10-in (25cm) f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain

Seeing conditions were relatively unfavourable (3-4/10).

Clouds over Ganges, Chryse, Tharsis, Arcadia. The possible dust cloud detected on June 2 near the North Polar Cap (NPC) seems to be disappearing (?). Please compare with the region marked with a black arrowhead on images obtained on June 2, 3 and 5. Current interpretation is difficult due to unfavourable seeing conditions.

8

Daniel M. Troiani, ALPO Mars Section Coordinator, Chicago, Illinois, E-mail: dantroiani@earthlink.net
17.5-inch (44 cm) f/4.8 Newtonian, 478x.

02:10-02:19; CM: 131-134°; L_s: 151.1°; D_e: 22.6°
Filters: W#80a, W#47, W#25
Blue Clearing (0-3): 1

Stefan Buda & Bratislav Curcic, Melbourne, Australia (5km from the city centre).
Homemade CB211 clone CCD with a mechanical shutter; 10-in. (25.4 cm) f/16 Dall-Kirkham (homemade) + 3X Barlow (effective f/48). No filters.

Jörg Meyer, Schoolobservatory Gudensberg, Germany, E-mail: joerg.meyer@planet-interkom.de

20:38 U.T.; CM: 42°

Jörg Meyer, Schoolobservatory Gudensberg, Germany, E-mail: joerg.meyer@planet-interkom.de

21:20 U.T.; CM: 52°

9

Bob Bunge, Bowie, Maryland, E-mail: rbunge@radix.net
20-inch (50 cm) f/6.4 reflector, 200/270x
1:30 UT
Seeing 6 out of 10. Poor seeing. Air temp. of 79° F., very hazy, high drifting clouds.

The North Polar cap was very small and difficult to see. The south polar hood was brighter and limb brighting, perhaps Chryse were both brighter than the north polar cap. Could just make out Solis Lacus coming in the south and Mare Acidalium in the north. Not all that much else to see.

Tomio Akutsu, Japan; E-mail: is6t-akt@asahi-net.or.jp
32cm F/6.5 Reflector Telers2 KAF0400E CCD

Lorenzo Comolli, Gruppo Astronomico Tradatese, Tradate (VA), Italy. Email: comolli@dido.net
ST-4 camera; 8-inch (20 cm) Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope; Projection at f/27.

20:30 U.T.; CM: 30°
Average of 20 images; Elaborated with Qmips32 v1.8.

Marco Eckstein, Roedental, Germany, E-mail: starlight@coburg.baynet.de
Hitachi Hi8 Videocamera; 8-inch (20 cm) Schmidt-Cass. (LX-10); Eyepiece Projection with a 10mm Plossl (200x).
~20:32 UT; CM 31°

Seeing conditions: average (4-6/10); Weather conditions: some altocumulus (2/10).
North Polar cap is easily seen - not very bright clouds visible - no dust activity - South Polar Hood (haze) is seen (almost brighter than NPC!)

10

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)   11.90s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)    4.29s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)   0.37s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing good (8-9) but winds (SE 0-10 knots). Transparency 5.0m, occasional clouds.
South limb cloud (SPH) prominent. North Polar Cap (NPC) tiny. Bright patch east of the NPC bright in green, blue. Not especially bright in red. Diffuse clouds in Tharsis, especially around Arsia and Ascraeus Mons. No clouds around Olympus Mons west of CM. Bright cloud in Candor. Eumedides prominent. Prominent evening limb arcs.

David M. Moore, Phoenix, Arizona;
E-mail: davidpaulamoore@email.msn.com

Several strange bright areas in Red. A Hubble image would be good right now!

11

Frank J. Melillo, Holtsville, New York, FrankJ12@aol.com

António Cidadão, Oeiras, Portugal
ST-5C camera 10-in (25cm) f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain

Seeing conditions were quite unfavourable (2/10).

I had to use the camera in low resolution mode (2x binning, that is 20 micrometer square "super"-pixels), and I was only able to grab a single image series for each filter due to the poor seeing. The white arrow points out a cloud over Arabia (?) visible on R filter. Unfortunately, the very poor quality of the B image does not allow for an accurate comparison. However, a light patch is seen over Dioscuria and Protonilus with the B filter. Apparently, it fades north of the above described light region in R.

Jörg Meyer, Schoolobservatory Gudensberg, Germany, E-mail: joerg.meyer@planet-interkom.de

21:24 U.T.; CM: 25°

12

Myron E. Wasiuta, Fredericksburg, Virginia, E-mail: wasiuta4@bigplanet.com
Lynxx CCD Camera; 6.1" (15.5 cm) f/7 Astrophysics EDF refractor; negative projection (5X barlow) and IR blocking filter.

U.T.	CM:	Filter
01:30 (left)	85°	IL
01:37	87°	Red (W25)
01:44	89°	Green (W58)
01:51	90°	Blue (W80A)
02:00 (right)	92°	Violet (W47)

Frank J. Melillo, Holtsville, New York, FrankJ12@aol.com

Jörg Meyer, Schoolobservatory Gudensberg, Germany, E-mail: joerg.meyer@planet-interkom.de

20:40 U.T.; CM: 5°

13

David M. Moore, Phoenix, Arizona;
E-mail: davidpaulamoore@email.msn.com

14

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)   13.26s
   Green (VG9 + IR Rejection)    5.07s
   Red (RG610 + IR Rejection)   0.49s
Images flat and dark corrected.
Seeing very good (8-9) but winds (ENE 0-10 kts).Transparency 4.0m, occasional clouds and high haze.
Candor now not significantly cloudy. Prominent evening limb arcs. Clouds in Chryse and in southern Tharsis. Ganges and Chrysorrhas prominent.

Tomio Akutsu, Japan; E-mail: is6t-akt@asahi-net.or.jp
32cm F/6.5 Reflector Telers2 KAF0400E CCD

Jörg Meyer, Schoolobservatory Gudensberg, Germany, E-mail: joerg.meyer@planet-interkom.de

20:28 U.T.; CM: 343°

Jörg Meyer, Schoolobservatory Gudensberg, Germany, E-mail: joerg.meyer@planet-interkom.de

20:40 U.T.; CM: 346°

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