Mars polar cap looked smaller last night!!

the polar cap looked smaller last night compared with my first obsevation
made a few days ago , as Mars rotates can you see more or less of it
depending on how much is pointing towards us?

thanks

Simon

In message , Simon
writes
the polar cap looked smaller last night compared with my first obsevation
made a few days ago , as Mars rotates can you see more or less of it
depending on how much is pointing towards us?

Thanks. I thought I was seeing things, but the cap even appears smaller
over a few days in the fuzzy pictures I'm producing at the moment. It's
summer on Mars in the Southern hemisphere and it's at perihelion, so
it's probably getting quite warm for the place.
--
"Forty millions of miles it was from us, more than forty millions of miles of
void"

On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 09:41:43 +0100, (Jim)
wrote:

Doug Ellison wrote:

the polar cap looked smaller last night compared with my first obsevation
made a few days ago , as Mars rotates can you see more or less of it
depending on how much is pointing towards us?

Thats possible - but also remember, the summer is rapidly approaching in
that hemisphere, and thus it's being sublimed to gaseous CO2 quite quickly

I had my best views ever last night - surface markings were clear and
very apparent. The polar cap was, as you say, very small indeed.

The more I use this SkyWatcher 5" short-tube refractor, the more I love
it :-) It won't replace my 10" Europa but by golly it compliments it
very well indeed. M27 was *gorgeous* in it.

Jim

Yep, Syrtis Major was nicely in view. It was a pity the seeing from
Macclesfield was so wobbly, I don't think the images will come out
well.

ChrisH

UK Astro Ads: http://www.UKAstroAds.co.uk

On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 08:30:22 +0100, "Simon"
wrote:

the polar cap looked smaller last night compared with my first obsevation
made a few days ago , as Mars rotates can you see more or less of it
depending on how much is pointing towards us?

thanks

Simon

Its Summer On Mars... and its melting

Looking for astro bits and pieces?
http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/orpheus1959

ChrisH wrote:

The more I use this SkyWatcher 5" short-tube refractor, the more I love
it :-) It won't replace my 10" Europa but by golly it compliments it
very well indeed. M27 was *gorgeous* in it.

Jim

Yep, Syrtis Major was nicely in view. It was a pity the seeing from
Macclesfield was so wobbly, I don't think the images will come out
well.

I'm in Stafford and it wasn't -too- bad I thought.

Jim
--
AIM/iChat:JCAndrew2
"We deal in the moral equivalent of black holes, where the normal
laws of right and wrong break down; beyond those metaphysical
event horizons there exist ... special circumstances" - Use Of Weapons

it was pretty good in cambridge, but i stacked a x2 and x3 barlow lens and
the magnification was much better, but the saved images appeared darker, im
not sure if it was the stacked barlows that did it or something else,


Simon
"Jim" wrote in message
...
ChrisH wrote:

The more I use this SkyWatcher 5" short-tube refractor, the more I love
it :-) It won't replace my 10" Europa but by golly it compliments it
very well indeed. M27 was *gorgeous* in it.

Jim

Yep, Syrtis Major was nicely in view. It was a pity the seeing from
Macclesfield was so wobbly, I don't think the images will come out
well.

I'm in Stafford and it wasn't -too- bad I thought.

Jim
--
AIM/iChat:JCAndrew2
"We deal in the moral equivalent of black holes, where the normal
laws of right and wrong break down; beyond those metaphysical
event horizons there exist ... special circumstances" - Use Of Weapons

I observed and sketched last night and again today. The polar cap appears to
have gone tonight. Syrtis Major is still visible although contrast is much
reduced compared to last night ( and rotated a bit as expected).

Mike A


wrote in message
...
On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 08:30:22 +0100, "Simon"
wrote:

the polar cap looked smaller last night compared with my first
obsevation
made a few days ago , as Mars rotates can you see more or less of it
depending on how much is pointing towards us?

thanks

Simon

Its Summer On Mars... and its melting

Looking for astro bits and pieces?
http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/orpheus1959

On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 23:33:15 +0100, "Michael T Averill"
wrote:

I observed and sketched last night and again today. The polar cap appears to
have gone tonight. Syrtis Major is still visible although contrast is much
reduced compared to last night ( and rotated a bit as expected).

Mike A


Oh it's not gone yet, definitely smaller though. I'll post an image
when I have the data processed. This evening didn't look too promising
at first - as I went out the door it was raining and overcast. But I
trusted the weatherman (!) and sure enough it cleared up.

ChrisH

UK Astro Ads: http://www.UKAstroAds.co.uk

"ChrisH" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 23:33:15 +0100, "Michael T Averill"
wrote:

I observed and sketched last night and again today. The polar cap appears
to
have gone tonight. Syrtis Major is still visible although contrast is
much
reduced compared to last night ( and rotated a bit as expected).

Definately not gone. - was there this morning 0219 UTC . Pic on
alt.binaries.pictures.astro

Kevin
www.kevsmith.com
www.siriusobservatoriesuk.com
DayStar Filters UK
Lille Coronographs, telecentrics, and Herschel wedges.

yes in Cambridge there was a little cloud but cleared as the evening went
on, the polar cap was less visable for me last night but still there, and
Syrtis Major appeared a little smaller, i will have to see what happens
when i get roung to do the image processing.

Simon

"Kevin Smith" wrote in message
...

"ChrisH" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 23:33:15 +0100, "Michael T Averill"
wrote:

I observed and sketched last night and again today. The polar cap
appears
to
have gone tonight. Syrtis Major is still visible although contrast is
much
reduced compared to last night ( and rotated a bit as expected).

Definately not gone. - was there this morning 0219 UTC . Pic on
alt.binaries.pictures.astro

Kevin
www.kevsmith.com
www.siriusobservatoriesuk.com
DayStar Filters UK
Lille Coronographs, telecentrics, and Herschel wedges.