A. The Planet Mars Is Now Approaching
Mars will be soon closest to the Earth on 27 January 2010 at 19h
GMT, and it will be at opposition on 29 January at 19.5h GMT. This
is an aphelic apparition and the maximal diameter will be no larger
than 14.1 seconds of arc.
The planet was already at eastern quadrature on 4 May 2010, and now
in the evening sky. The apparent diameter is 5.0" on 11 July 2010
with the Martian season λ=117°Ls. At the beginning of August the
altitude of Mars will be just 30° above the horizon at sunset with
λ=126°Ls.
In August 2010 the International Society of the Mars Observers was established (Advisory Board: Donald PARKER (USA), Christophe PELLIER (France), William SHEEHAN (USA) and two of the Japanese OAA Members (Tadashi ASADA and Masatsugu MINAMI)). Any Mars observers (including the so-called armchair observers) can world-widely join the ISMO free of charge. Every month our bulletin CMO shall be published in a PDF edition with several pieces of up-to-date information concerning the international observations of the planet Mars.
D.
Reformation of the staff of the OAA Mars Section
Masatsugu MINAMI vacated the chair of Director of the OAA Mars Section to
Masami MURAKAMI. The new secretariat is kept by Takashi
NAKAJIMA and Akinori NISHITA. Tadashi ASADA (one of the former
secretaries) and Masatsugu MINAMI devote themselves to the
management of the new ISMO (International Society of the Mars
Observers).
This rotating globe is solely formed from seven images of the planet
taken between 17th January and 5th March 2010 using a home-built 222mm
Dobsonian reflector and a DMK21AF04AS mono camera with RG and B
filters. This was done from the back garden of Martin LEWIS's home in
St.Albans, UK with the Dobsonian being mounted on a home-built
equatorial platform to enable tracking of the planet during imaging.
Though the moving image on the rhs is ill mapped and looks
clumsy, but the original is much clearer: So please see an
original version at the website of Martin LEWIS which shows full
details of how it was created;
We are saddened to hear about the passing away of Professor Audouin
DOLLFUS on 1 October, Paris time, aged 85. We sincerely hope he may rest in
peace.
His analysis of the Lunar dust using polarimetry allowed him to
deduce the basaltic nature of the Lunar soil (1955). As a result,
NASA invited him to collaborate to the study of the Apollo 11 landing
site and to provide expertise for the design of the astronauts
Moonboots. He contributed to the analysis of the Lunar samples
returned by the Apollo program and to the studies of the Martian soil
in preparation to the Viking mission, which landed in 1976 on Mars.
In addition to Apollo, he collaborated with NASA on the Ranger and
the Venus Mariner programs, and to the Soviet Mars-5 mission in 1973.
Expert in planetary mapping, he created the International Center for
Planetary Photography at Meudon, from which stemmed many maps and
nomenclatures, domains that were highly innovating to the time.
Audouin Dollfus was above all a pioneer of space exploration through
his practice of astronomy using balloons. Bringing together his two
passions of astronomy and balloons, he designed prototypes that
allowed him to take a telescope up to 6,000 m (19,700 ft) in the air
in a simple nacelle. His most spectacular and famous flight remains
that of April 24, 1959, when taking off from Villacoublay near Paris,
he reached 14,000 m (45,920 ft), which remains the French record
today. That day, he took to the air alone, in an air-tight capsule
suspended to 102 balloons, and opened the path to the study of
astronomy from space. The data he collected during that flight
allowed him to infer the existence of water on Mars.
Talented mongolfiere and balloon pilot, he held several world records
for flight duration, distance, and altitude in free ballooning.
Historian of sciences, historian in aeronautics, and member of the
Aero-Club de France, he was still working prior to his passing at the
creation of a City of Balloons and Dirigibles in the Y hangar at Meudon.
Audouin Dollfus was also dedicated to passing on his passion for
astronomy and never refused an opportunity to share his enthusiasm
through lectures, debates, and talks to astronomy and areo clubs. He
mentored students in astronomy and planetary sciences. Many of them
are today directly involved in planetary and space exploration.
He was Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, and the recipient of many
awards, including the Grand Prize of the Academy of Sciences, the
Galabert of Astronautics. He was the Lauréat of the French
Astronomical Society.
He was also a writer, author of "50 years of astronomy" (EdP,
Editors), "A Century of Astronomy by the French Astronomical
Society", The Grande Lunette of Meudon (CNRS, Ed.), and "The Other
Worlds, Views of an Astronomer" (Ed. Belin). Funerals will be held in
Versailles October 8, 2010. Audouin Dollfus will be buried in Lyons."
E.
Animation of Mars in 2010 by Martin LEWIS
http://www.skyinspector.co.uk/Mars-Animation(2369874).htm
F.
Death of Professor Audouin DOLLFUS
"The French astronomer and aeronaut Audouin Dollfus passed away
October 1, 2010 in Versailles, France, at the age of 85. Born
November 12, 1924 in Paris and son of an aeronaut, he built his first
refracting telescope at the age of 14. Graduated in Mathematical
Sciences and Physics, he started his career at the Observatory of
Paris-Meudon as a student of astronomer Bernard Lyot. At a time when
astronomy was focusing on deep sky, Audouin Dollfus turned to the
study of the Solar System, and became a worldwide expert on the
subject. He created the Laboratory of Solar System Physics at Meudon,
studying all planets, with special interest in Mars, Venus, Mercury,
Saturn and Jupiter. He also contributed to the study of the Sun by
creating a coronograph that was used by many spacecraft missions.
Audouin Dollfus led astronomical campaigns both at the Observatory of
Meudon and the Pic-du-Midi Observatory. He discovered Janus, 10th
satellite of Saturn in 1966, and astéroïd 2451 bears his name. The
breadth and reach of his research and his numerous (330) scientific
publications allowed him to contribute to many international committees.