Summary of Mars Observations 2005
Albedo map from images through 6" refractor, October/November 2005
July yielded small images of around 10” of arc with only major surface details being visible.
July 25th, 2005 average seeing conditions, first use of Mars 2003 filter...effect of subdued oranges but increased density of dark surface features, Eridania and north polar regions quite bright whereas Mare Sirenum was dark and detailed.
August combined warm nights with some very good seeing and transparency to yield images that began to show fine surface detail. Imaging with digital cameras was begun which showed the need for some development of techniques of both shooting and processing. Disk drawings made in this period start to reveal more intricate detail.
September revealed more fine detail with orographic clouds becoming visible towards month’s end when disk diameter exceeded 16”. Photographic details improved with increased disk size and the movie method began to be used to record the planet, with digital stills being employed on nights of very good seeing. Local weather conditions remained fairly stable with warm evenings giving way to cooler nights. More detail was recorded in this period than throughout the whole 2003 apparition.
October began with a great increase in disk diameter to maximum of 20.2”, many orographic and frost clouds were seen, particularly in the Tharsis volcanic province, the North polar Hood remained large and very blue at times with brilliant white spots appearing from time to time. This month began notable dust activity just past mid-month with two storms appearing in the Chryse region, with the 2nd expanding northward. This storm continues to expand through the Eos-Coprates canyon complexes, covering Solis lacus and moving westward into Argyre I and beginning to extend south towards Meridiani. Sharp detail of Sabeus Sinus and some of the best ever views of this region were obtained after Oct 20th. Pandorae Fretum appears excessively dark this time, much darker than in 2003.
Oct 25th…dust appears to be moving over Mare Australe and funneling down in to the Hellas basin, Hellespontus Montes appears sharper and delineated against the dusty background, dust also moving into Margaritifer Sinus and renewed activity in Chryse.
Oct 31st… Mars remains dusty with renewed activity in Sinus Meridiani, contrast very good at times with Mare Tyrrhenum and Syrtis Major appearing a greenish color. Great views even in less than ideal seeing during closest approach, Oct 28 through 30th.
To date, November skies have yielded few clear nights, what there were have been meteorologically clear but not astronomically clear. Nights that were clear gave seeing at III to IV on the Antoniadi scale or 4/10 at best on the Pickering scale. Major details were recorded but only occasional moments of finer detail were available.
Some cloud activity was noted north of Solis Lacus and Tharsis. Due to last month's dust events, Solis Lacus itself appears notably larger and a more diffuse grayish.
As of mid November, clear nights are few and far between and seeing conditions are far from ideal but persistance is sure to yield at least one more good night.
As November winds down, the impression is that the atmosphere of Mars has become quite dusty with increased cloud formation following the dust events of late October. In moments of good seeing, the Solis Lacus region has become darker and more enlarged though less distinct. The outflow areas in southern Mare Erythraeum have become more defined with some increase in the brightness of the Chryse region.
December 10th, tempertures have returned to the plus side of zero but with a turbulent and cloudy sky, you take your chances and grab an observation where and whenever. Mars continues to recede with gibbous phase more pronounced at 95% illumination.
Weather more favorable towards Christmas week, though cold...-10C to -18C, seeing in the west has been II to III on the Antoniadi scale with relatively good transparency. Mars continues to show sharp and varied detail even at 13 to 14 arc seconds, dust activity appears to have died off although some clouds are still apparent.
As the holiday season has arrived, the weather has been a little less than cooperative, observations were made but were difficult due to the jetstream being overhead but some detail was observed. Attempts will be made for a last look at the Syrtis Major/Sabeus Sinus region through the new year.
I am absolutely amazed at the amount of detail that I was able to see this year thanks to good optics and some favorable conditions as well as the judicious use of color and blocking filters that allowed maximum contrast to be obtained. Even though I embarked on digital color imaging of Mars, I have no intention of giving up drawing the planet as it allows me to see that very fine detail that even the most detailed of images miss, also the experience of drawing allows me a kinship with the former great visual observers of the planet from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
January 2006: I felt that it was important to continue Mars observations through this period of less than transparent skies and diminishing disk diameter in order to see just how small a disk I can still get useful data from and as preparation for the next three oppositions which will occur under similiar circumstances. I have been surprised at the amount of detail still visible. The South polar region is becoming more cloudy with the formation of the new cap beginning, as well, the whole southern hemisphere is becoming more hazy and cloudy with bright clouds visible in Libya, north of Sabeus Sinus, Chryse and Solis Lacus.
February 1st, diameter is down to 8.8" and the observing window for my location is pretty much gone, only gross features now being visible, it's time to say goodbye for this apparition. I'd like to thank all the contributors for this time and hope others will join us next time in 2007!
Until next time....November/December 2007!
Denis Fell
The 2005 Mars apparition was one of great expectation and great promise. After the hoopla that surrounded Mars in 2003, and my previous lack of exposure to a good Mars apparition, that summer was filled with hectic observings and much time spent learning how best to observe this difficult planet. For 2005, I was looking forward to reacquainting myself with features that I had become familiar with and I hoped to have a 'focused' approach to observing Mars and seeing all that I hoped to see. And this apparition promised us a planet that would ride higher in the sky and one that would be found in darker and hopefully clearer skies. Alas, this last part of the promise was not fulfilled. The fall weather turned out to be cloudier and more turbulent than usual and left me with few opportunities to push the frontiers on observing Mars. "C'est la vie"
But there was progress that might be more important than what was expected. Yes, my familiarity with Mars has increased. I sketched the planet almost as much as I did in 2003. I saw more detail than ever before. And now the face of Mars is becoming a familiar 'old friend'. The interchange and internet dissemination of information on Mars allowed one to follow real-time events on the red planet that really gave observations a new feeling of 'connectedness'. One could go out and try a catch a glimpse of a rising dust storm that was reported only hours earlier from observers half a world away, or not fret when the planet looked murky as observers all over reported the diminished details. Online pictures and simulations could make it convenient to know exactly what face and phase of Mars would be present.
These really are amazing times to be observing the sky. But the big plus of this apparition was being able to talk and compare notes with the other Mars observers and the contributors to the Canada Mars watch program. I think that my exposure to the thoughts and techniques of other observers contributed as much to my progress as any advancement that I could have made on my own in the best of skies. Mars will come around again. I hope I remember all the names that I learned from this apparition that revealed more details to me than I have ever seen before. But most of all, I hope that the same group of observers will be there and joined by many others to spur us all on to even greater achievements. It's very satisfying to know that our attempts to explore what is going on 'way out there' reveals so much about what is going on down here.
Unlike my good friend and planetary sketcher, Mike Karakas, who likes to document the maximum informational content, my sketching aims to capture the image as it appears to me in an optimal but realistic manner. His sketches are documentations of the total informational content of his observing session but carry more information than what would be apparent in a "single gaze" of an experienced observer. I try to capture that "single gaze". Now of course, that "level of experience" used in that effort is mine. This sketching objective of "brutally simple realism" is the one that I feel is needed as much as the objectives of my friend Mike K (and I suspect, Denis Fell's sketches) I think I have found a niche that needs addressing. Other forms of imaging such as photographs and digital imaging doesn't seem to capture this visual eyepiece experience. These other mediums either give us too much information through superior contrast, colour or resolution. Or it gives us a view showing the way these medium differ in their rendition of the image. My attempts to capture this more modest, "phenomenological" viewing is of interest to others. Some, such as the Manitoba planetarium, are using copies of my sketches to convey the idea of what people might expect to see, with a bit of experience, when they view Mars. I find it reassuring that others say they see Mars the way I have drawn it. And no doubt the same can be said for each of kinds of sketches represented in the Canada Mars Watch.
But my drawing style is not static and it is influenced by many sources. Of relevance in the evolution of my Mars sketching is the following: Harry Pulley was a catalyst in getting me to use more of my equipment to help determine what I was looking at. He was the one asking me if I had used filters to sort out Martian atmospheric features from planetary. He told me about strategies to help sort out some of these issues to push for greater details and the understanding that allows one to finally see it.. He was in my mind when I would go about gathering the equipment that I wanted to use that night. Once set up and observing I had Denis Fell's wonderfully detailed sketches in mind. His sketches gave me a target to reach for. I kept looking for details similar to what Denis showed we are capable of seeing. But once the sketching was over and it was time to render an image that was in line with my sketching objectives as defined above, I kept Mike Boschat's wonderfully simple sketches in mind. More than any other, his sketches represent the first dazzling images we have of Mars.
His contributions have captured the contrast/brightness of the image of Mars that I find lacking in other sketches especially mine (but I'm working on it). I also liked the fact that his sketches are views that we can all identify with. ( I think he could get even closer to this if he'd do his sketches in colour! No doubt he'd use the subdued but luminous colours that I try to convey but end up over- doing.) So I like looking at these other contributions as I feel it keeps my sketches balanced where I like them to be. All imaging (sketching included) is a balance of representing what is there while trying to avoid artefacts of various kinds. Keeping these other contributions in mind keeps me balanced where I think I should be, and I think taking those balancing forces into account makes me a better sketcher.
I hope that conveys more of what being part of the project has meant to me.
Gerry Smerchanski
Teulon, in Manitoba's Interlake region between Lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg.
Lat. 50.386 N Long. 97.25 W
RASC Journal article by Harry Pulley in Word format.
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