From
Konrad DENNERL
© . . . . . . . . . . Dear Masatsugu,
please find enclosed some offprints of
the paper on the discovery of X-rays from Mars (containing
the image of Yukio MORITA in Fig 16c), and a
2003 calendar from the Institute where I am working.
I hope that you are satisfied with the
reproduction of the image, and that I have got the citation right. Please
forward my greetings and thanks also to Yukio MORITA.
His image demonstrates very well the impact of
the dust storm on the optical appearance of this hemisphere, while the region
which was visible at the end of the X-rays observation was much affected (as Fig 16a shows, which was taken by an experienced German
amateur astronomer under observing conditions which were, at least on the
Earth, very unfavourable).
Nevertheless, no change was observed in the X-ray signal. This implies that the
storm did not blow a sufficient number of very tiny dust particles into the
upper atmosphere to influence the X-ray flux by additional scattering of solar
X-rays on such dust grains.
Unfortunately, despite the upcoming extremely favourable Mars opposition, it is unlikely that additional
X-ray observations of Mars will be performed. This is mainly due to the very
high demand on observing time with the Chandra X-ray satellite. Compared to
ground based astronomy, this satellite was extremely expensive, costing about
1.5 billion US$ (about 15 times the cost of one 10 m KECK
telescope). In this context, I was very happy that I had
got observing time for Mars.
Thank you very much for your support.
(
© . . . . . . . . . .Date:
From: Konrad Dennerl <kod@mpe.mpg.de>
Subject: Re: Thank you
Dear Masatsugu,
thank you very much for your kind letter. I am sorry that my
mail arrived so late. If I had known that then I would have sent it explicitly
by air mail. This is an occasion where I appreciate the benefits of e-mail for
communicating over large distances.
In your letter you mentioned the idea that there might be
a connection between solar activity and atmospheric disturbances on Mars. This
is very interesting: while it is well known that the upper atmosphere of Mars (and that of Venus and Earth)
responds to solar activity, I am not aware how changes in the upper atmosphere
are expected to propagate into the lower atmosphere and may be related to storm
activity. I think that your observations of Mars are very important in this
context, and I am sure that you will continue to monitor Mars so well, in
particular during the coming opposition. If something unusual should be found
to happen on Mars and/or the Sun, then this might help to trigger another
observation of Mars in X-rays.
Thank
you for your remarks about the Calendar. I am impressed by your knowledge of
the German language. In
Best wishes,
Konrad DENNERL
(Garching
bei München, Deutchland)
Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische
Physik,
(Note) The
article received is entitled "Discovery of X-rays from Mars with Chandra"
published in Astronomy & Astrophysics 394 (2002) 1119-1128. The offprints were sent out by snail mail, and so it took about
two months from
(Mn)