[Dr Richard John McKim]

A view from Upper Benefield, Northants, under perfect conditions, with an 80 mm refractor. Some photos and timings close to the prediction for Birmingham. The observed times, plus or minus a second or two were 1st contact 04:58:25 and 2nd contact 04:58:56. Extremely cold with heavy frost. I hope others viewed this event. It was hard to see Mars with the naked eye close to the Moon.

Richard McKim

[Dr Richard John McKim]

Thanks for providing these details Alex. The altitude for London is not too bad, even if the hour is not so convenient, and I hope that observers will send their successful results to the Mars Section in addition to posting them at their member pages. Some of our past Mars reports, all of which are available at the Section website, contain some nice images and drawings of past events. For example an occultation in 2003 was widely observed from the USA and there is a sequence of images by the late Don Parker. Good luck with the great British weather….!

Richard McKim

[Dr Richard John McKim]

I am glad to see observers following this up. We did not have as many observations from the UK and Europe this time as I would have liked. But the western end of the storm, whose development we might have followed better, was decaying while the eastern part developed vigorously. The latter end was well observed on nearly every date from Japan, with some good observations on a few dates from Australia too. In America, observers could watch only the eastern limit of the dust as it appeared over Hellas (at the morning limb) in recent days. The storm closely followed the pattern of the large regional event of 2020 November, described in great detail in the Section blog for that year, with new cores forming in similar locations and ultimately a large dust cloud spilling over the boundaries of Hellas marking the eastern end. The pattern of fallout is however different at first glance, with the apparent boundaries of Argyre much enlarged. The small dust core imaged by John at Gallinaria Silva (just west of Solis Lacus) is the sort of phenomenon that continually renews this variable albedo feature.

Richard McKim

[Dr Richard John McKim]

The dust storm continues as an impressive large regional event, and can now be observed at the terminator by sufficiently determined UK observers in the pre-dawn hours. If it continues for long enough, its western end will be even better placed in a few days’ time. I will be happy to receive and comment upon observations sent to me direct by email.

Richard McKim

[Dr Richard John McKim]

Here is an update. I had an email this evening from Makoto Adachi just after 18.00UT, the local time in Japan being just after 2.00 a.m. He had just come indoors from the telescope to report upon the expansion of the storm. It has definitely expanded to the south, and Aurorae Sinus is now hidden by dust.

Richard McKim

[Dr Richard John McKim]

I am delighted that you have completed this project James. It is a great achievement and a testament to Alan’s lifetime of scientific accomplishment. Alan and the late J. Hedley Robinson were my first friends in the BAA in 1975, and Alan has been a prolific correspondent ever since.

[Dr Richard John McKim]

This event did not last more than a few days, but one never knows how large such an event may become. I tend to wait a day or two to see how an event develops before posting an alert. The location and rapid development of this storm suggested it would reach larger proportions than it eventually did. If you obtain any observations of Mars, whether dusty or not, please send them direct to me. The 2022 blog at the Section website was recently updated. Good observing!

[Dr Richard John McKim]

As to aperture, 200 mm will give you good results, but most observers seem to graduate to larger apertures. 250 mm should answer most needs, and unless you are getting excellent seeing conditions consistently (or become expert at processing) you probably will not find much advantage in going to 300 mm or more. Beyond that size, transportability will be a factor. However, for a fixed scope the focal length will be longer and longer with a larger aperture. I presume you are going for an SCT but I have had excellent reports from users of Maksutovs of around 250 mm aperture.

I would suggest that you think carefully about what focal length you will need to get a decent size of image. I use a 16 inch Dall Kirkham with a focal length of 400 inches. This enables one to get a decent size for Mars even at an aphelion opposition on the chip, without a Barlow lens, but I have actually found the image size somewhat too large for Jupiter near Opposition. I am mainly a visual observer so it does not matter too much to me. But as a Section Director I find the biggest complaint from (or obstacle for) observers is getting a large enough image. Some observers have coupled two x2 Barlow lenses together but this can lead to internal reflections and ghosting. There is a x3 Barlow on the market and that may be a better solution. If you intend to image Venus with a Barlow you should be aware that ultraviolet will be absorbed by glass and that a special Barlow will be needed, if you need a longer focal length.

Many observers have missed a discovery by taking too long to process their images, and I know several observers who always work upon them immediately after the observing run, and then send them in. So another piece of advice is not to accumulate your unprocessed images. You can always submit a better processing at your leisure, but report the result on the same day if you can. I find that some people can submit images six months late, but by that time their usefulness is much reduced.

I will leave others to give advice about manufacturers…..

[Dr Richard John McKim]

It could indeed be Arthur Ransome, but in that book Dick’s telescope is more of a device for reading semaphore signals sent by another group of children. There is the stars book owned by Dick, and a few constellations are mentioned at the start. But the book is more about ice skating on the frozen lake. But yes, a brother and sister……. I find the question intriguing and at first I thought I knew the answer. But it was not so simple. On my shelf I still have an early 60s book from my childhood, Timothy’s Book of Space, but herein Timothy is the only one to receive instruction from his Dad. Although I cannot solve the riddle, instruction in the form of a series of long conversations between brother and sister is the theme of another book in my library by James Ferguson, An easy introduction to astronomy, for young gentlemen and ladies…. London MDCCLXXII. I will keep looking, but one certainly turns up interesting things along the way.

[Dr Richard John McKim]

Following on from the previous post, I did take up Ron’s invitation to visit him at his home on the last afternoon of the 1983 Winchester weekend, and was about to attach my photo of him posing with his Observatory dome to this post when I realised that there was apparently no way to attach it. At the time Ron was doing good planetary photos using the Kodak TP2415 film which was the best way of securing quality results back then. A great observer, a true discoverer in the tradition of Alcock.

[Dr Richard John McKim]

You can contact me with your wants list privately Paul, when you return, because I don’t look at the Forum regularly. See the back of the journal for my email address, please.
Richard

[Dr Richard John McKim]

If anyone wants a particular issue, perhaps a replacement, just for the cost of postage, back to the 1946-47 Session, we do have some paper copies spare. Please ask me by private email and I shall be glad to help. I cannot make up complete sets, however.

I would be interested if any member wished to donate original copies of the Circulars from 1946 and earlier, as on the whole we have only one copy of each. I think most people treat them as ephemeral, and like newspapers they become rarities. We are also pleased to receive good copies of early journals and memoirs and handbooks, before 1934, as a few of our early ones are without covers, something that can occasionally be spotted in the scanned copies comprising the Journal CD set.

Sheridan did a great job with scanning them, and of course with the other long runs of publications.

Richard McKim
Archivist

[Dr Richard John McKim]

I would like to add to the above discussion that the BAA Internet shop does not list all the available copies of the Handbook that we have for sale. The office has access to the stock for recent years, but the older stock is kept somewhere else in a storage depot out of London. In fact we have copies for sale for almost every year back to 1938, so if you need a particular issue or a run of years, before the ones available at the shop, let me know and I can advise availability, and we can arrange payment via the BAA office.

The same applies to older copies of the Journal, back to 1934, and the Memoirs (albeit a very patchy stock) back to the same time. Again please write to me as I visit the depot from time to time and can access the issues.

Richard McKim
Archivist

[Dr Richard John McKim]

If any member would like a draft copy of my catalogue of every BAA publication ever produced since 1890 I shall be happy to reply to any private email. When eventually finished it will be posted online.

Let me just write that there are a great many published ephemera without any sign of a year indicated, and I hope authors will always date their publications in future for the record.

Richard McKim
Archivist

[Dr Richard John McKim]

These are still available. I am sure someone would like them!

[Dr Richard John McKim]

I forgot to add that in a few days’ time Mars is going to be close to Venus in the evening sky, so that will facilitate locating it. The Handbook mentions the date when they are closest.

[Dr Richard John McKim]

I had an excellent view from Upper Benefield, Northants., though there were spells of cloud at times. I was able to time 1st and 2nd contacts with a 80 mm OG by direct vision. A pity the two sunspots visible are so small. There were several parts of the lunar limb showing irregularities. I hope others enjoyed the view.

[Dr Richard John McKim]

I do not know anything about the other author, but I should write that Mrs Sally Beaumont passed away within the last five years or so. She was, I recall, a Latin teacher by profession. She made a number of planetary observations for the BAA.

[Dr Richard John McKim]

In the light of recent Mars landings members may like to see a short National Geographic video that was uploaded last week. It mentions – in not very serious terms – the 1877 canal controversy, and I was able to supply the producers with a copy of N.E.Green’s map. 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-mapping-mars-completely-changed-how-we-see-it

[Dr Richard John McKim]

Dust now reached southern Hellespontus on the eastern side, and may start to become visible from the longitude of the USA if it spreads further east. Meanwhile UK and European observers are getting good views of the western side which reaches as far west as about Aonius Sinus, but you do need to observe early to see it near the CM: I had a good view around 17.30UT yesterday. From the longitudes of Japan and Australia the central part of the storm is well-placed. I am inclined to think it will not spread any further…… but it is an impressive sight.

Good observing!

[Author]

Posts