Visual observers who still practice the art of observing the heavens contribute much to the knowledge of mankind. Their role as amateur researchers remains an important ingredient in Solar System study. Since the human eye is the most sensitive instrument we know of we must first learn to observe the Red Planet using the astronomical telescope.

We are often asked; are amateur Mars observers doing useful work?  Have we been made obsolete by the modern space missions into our Solar System? With the volumes of information cataloged by Viking mission scientists, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and the modern CCD or WebCam system, why do we think we can contribute to science? But stop and think; when have you seen more than a few images from those space missions of the Red Planet as we would like to see it – a little closer?

We have grown to expect only snapshots of “Barsoom” from our space missions and those spacecraft are not like our backyard telescope, we control them! No machine every dreamed a new insight or puzzled over something it didn’t quite understand -- Mars is a changing world and the more we, the amateur observer, aspire to see it and to understand it.  The final arbiter of knowledge is man himself.  Our tools are Viking, Hubble, and our telescopes, plus our minds.  These space missions have defined and outlined areas for continued future telescopic research.  Even with newer and more modern spacecraft now heading for Mars the only people watching the Red Planet now is you.  Our knowledge of Martian changing phenomena, until the next spacecraft arrives, will come from Earth-bound telescopes from you, the Planetary Astronomer!

The often expressed statement "visual observation is only a subjective method" is a cliché used by some astronomers, indicating that photographs are the only valid scientific method to record conditions on a planet. However, if one takes time to think about this, he should realize that the subjective eye and subjective mind of an astronomer interpret that same objective photograph, in its final analysis.   How can we contribute to mankind’s knowledge of Mars? Well, it is not necessary to contribute anything to anyone else but to the satisfaction of the observer himself or herself. One may consider the words of an early member of the A.L.P.O., Joel W. Goodman, who wrote in 1967:

"Can it be, then, that the amateur is poorly rewarded for his efforts? If the yardstick we apply is the significance of his scientific contributions, then the answer must, in a sense, be yes. But the chase is often more rewarding that the kill. The primary motivation o the amateur is not, and never has been, his opportunity to contribute to science. The modest contributions he can make are all to the good; but his clarion call is the pure pleasure to be derived from studying the moon and planets at first hand, and from the excitement of the realization that they are largely unknown, mysterious worlds, the next frontier of man’s exploration."

When using a webcam or CCD camera when exposures are hundreds, even thousands of times faster that the old film methods.  We used film to capture what our eye could not retain for more than a few seconds -- a record we could go back to inspect time and time again.  Our brain has a limited capacity to retain these images, so we must sketch what we see immediately lest we lose valuable details top a foggy memory.  Often out mind is busy with other thoughts that can cloud our memory and we may invent features that may not be there.  We must sketch what we see, recheck every now and then, recheck again, then walk away before we change our minds.

The atmospheric surface boundary layer (SBL) on Mars is not static and may vary from a few meters in altitude to several hundreds of meters. The height of the SBL is dependent on the areographic latitude and time of day.  Because the boundary layer is low to the surface any change in atmospheric pressure in that region can cause horizontal winds to flow from colder to warmer areas and surface dust particles can be transported into higher altitudes.

The vertical walls of valleys and huge craters tend to aid in the development of near surface winds as a result of updrafts from the floors and often dust streaks are observed flowing from those areas on Mars.  Occasionally the wind speeds are high enough to transport enough dust above the SBL and as more Sunlight heats the atmosphere and dust particles turbulence results that causes dust devils or larger dust clouds may form.

A study of the topography of Mars and the history of observed dust storms indicates that certain regions of the planet is necessary to understand the behavior of these huge dust clouds and be able to predict where and when they will occur.  With the advent of modern personal computers and the available FREE software developed for image processing we may be able to scan the images to catalog all the different types of meteorology and dust activity.  Hopefully, someone who has developed such programs, such as “WinJUPOS - Database for object positions on planets and the Sun” by Grischa Hahn (Dresden, Germany) or RegiStax et al,  would be interested in pursuing this goal and a more complete understanding of the Meteorology of Mars and its dust storms may be realized.

October 13-15.   On October 13 Adrian Sonka (Romania),  Silvia Kowollik (Germany),  and Paolo Lazzarotti (Italy) independently imaged a small dust cloud in northeast Chryse near 25°N, 30°W. In only 21 hours the dust had expanded southward approximately 1800 Km into Eos. By October 15, however, observers imaged only a small dust cloud near Eos Chasma  (10°S, 35°W) and by October 16 the region appeared normal for the season [Fig. 1 Sonka, Mazzotti,  Pellier].

Figure 1.  LEFT:  What may be the first of many images of a dust cloud on October 13, 2005 (305° Ls, 46° CM) by Adrian Sonka (Romania), shows dust streak in northwest Chryse.   CENTER: Paolo Mazzotti  (58°  CM) shows dust streak in Chryse just minutes behind Sanka's image.   RIGHT:  Definite indications of dust spreading from northwest Chryse into Eos and Pyrrhae Regio on  October 13th ( 308° Ls, 351° CM) as imaged by Christophe Pellier (France).

Figure 2. Slightly expanded dust cloud in Chryse captured by Ed Grafton on October 17 (307°  Ls,  77°  CM).

Figure 3.  IMAGE-1:  October 18th (308°  Ls, 30°  CM) captured odd shaped dust cloud from Chryse into Eos and Pyrrhae Regio and at the western edge of Aurorae Sinus.   IMAGE-2:  Same shaped dust cloud as in image-1 from different central meridian on October 18th ( 308°  Ls,  12°  CM) imaged by Sean Walker (USA).    IMAGE-3: Shows more detailed dust cloud in Chryse, Eos and Pyrrhae Regio on  October 18, 2005 (308°  Ls,  46°  CM) by Jim Melka (USA)    IMAGE-4:  Also, white limb clouds mixes in with dust as imaged on October 19th (309°  Ls,  29°  CM) by Joel Warren (USA).

Figure 4  Two excellent images of Mars by LEFT: Larry Owens (USA) and RIGHT:  Ed Grafton (USA) showing distinct, but odd shaped dust cloud streak developing during October 19 ( 309°  Ls).

Figure 5.  Excellent sequence of images of Mars by Grafton (USA) showing dust cloud streak developing during October 18-20 (308°  - 309°  Ls) as it moved from Chryse into Eos and Pyrrhae Regio, over Aurorae Sinus and into Ophir just north of  Coprates (Agathodaemon).  Images from October 21st - 26th (310°  - 313°  Ls) is of several dust clouds in the Thaumasia-Solis Lacus area, then spreading south and southwest into Argyre and Erythraeum Mare.  Dusty haze spreads throughout much of the southern hemisphere of Mars by October 26.

Figure 6.  IMAGE-1: October 20 (309° Ls, 9° CM) by Don Bates (USA) shows several dust clouds spreading across Eos, Pyrrhae Regio, Aurorae Sinus and Erythraeum Mare.   IMAGE-2:  Different CM on same date (26° CM) shows dust clouds as captured by David Anderson (USA) and IMAGE-3:  Same date (46°   CM) of  Jim Phillip's image dust streaks into Argyre-I and Erythraeum Mare.  IMAGE-4:  Same date (23°  CM) of Sean Walker's image same dust streaks in previous images with indications of dusty cloud banding developing across Mars' equatorial zone.

Figure 7.  Massive dust cloud formations in and around the Thaumasia-Solis Lacus area Aurorae Sinus,  Erythraeum Mare and Argyre-I.  IMAGE-1: Rolando Chavex (USA ) on October 21 (310° Ls, 45°  CM),   IMAGE-2:  Alan Friedman (USA) same date (52° CM) and  IMAGE-3:  E. Lomeli (USA) same date (73° CM) indicating increased limb cloud activity.

Figure 8.  Two images on October 21st  (44°  CM) showing a general dusty haze from Margaritifer Sinus and Chryse to the morning limb LEFT: by Joel Warren (USA). Notice the two bright spots in Thaumasia.  RIGHT:  (81°  CM) by Rich Jakiel (USA) with dust streaks and clouds over Solis Lacus and a general dust haze invading the southern hemisphere of Mars.
 
 

Figure 9.  Two image sequences of dust storm with the rotation of Mars captured by ABOVE: Sean Walker on October 22, 2005 (310°  Ls, (331°  - 018°  CMs) and BELOW:   nice image sequence (343° - 020° CMs) by unknown amateur astronomer who did not included his name or location.  Both sequences shows progress of dust storm throughout the Martian day.

Figure 10.  Four more October 22 images with evidence of spreading dust storm in southern hemisphere of Mars. IMAGE-1:  October 22 (310°  Ls, 348° CM)  Sean Walker (USA), with dust storm near morning limb.  IMAGE-2:  (13° CM)  John Boudreau (USA) captures long dust streak from Argyre-I over Pandorae Fretum and Deucalionis Regio.   IMAGE-4:  Joel Warren (56° CM) indicates an "S" shaped dust cloud formation..   IMAGE-4:  (52° CM) by  C. Sherrod (USA) indicates some spreading of dust into Daedalia.   IMAGE-5: (132° CM) by S. Buda (Australia) demonstrates dust storm on evening side of Mars as opposed to image-1.

Figure 11.  Four more images from October 23 and 24 (311° - 312°  Ls)   images with evidence of spreading dust storm in southern hemisphere of Mars.  "S" shaped dust cloud breaking up and spreading west.   IMAGE-1:  (19°  CM) by Jim Fisher (USA).  IMAGE-2:  (14°  CM) by Ed Grafton (USA),  IMAGE-3:    (54 ° CM)  by E. Lomeli (USA) and IMAGE-4:  October 24 ( 27° CM)  by Joel Warren (USA).

October 27 – November 3.  On October 26 Joel Warren (Amarillo, TX) reported a bright dust cloud extending from eastern Chryse into Aram Chaos, covering northern Margaritifer and Aram. The cloud expanded to the north as far as 25°N, 25°W and southeastward into Aram, covering part of Meridiani Sinus. By October 30 it had extended into western Deucalionis and had obscured most of Margaritifer Sinus and Meridiani Sinus. On November 1 the storm began to subside, and the region appeared normal by November 3, with one exception: at the time of this writing, mid-November, Margaritifer Sinus had remained lighter than usual.

Figure 13.  LEFT: October 26 (4° CM), Glenn Schaeffer (USA) captured dust clouds in Chryse-Eos and Aurorae Sinus and onto morning limb. Dust extends from morning limb westward (evening direction) into Argyre-I and just north of south polar cap (SPC). RIGHT: Mars (102° CM) 100 degrees rotation shows dust extends around southern hemisphere into Phlegethon and near Daedalia.

Figure 14.  Similar views of dust storm as in Figure 13, LEFT:  October 27 (313° Ls, 340° CM) by David Moore, (349° CM)  Rik Hill and  (359° CM) Larry Owens.

Figure 15.  IMAGE-1: October 28 (314°  Ls, 349°  CM) Mark Schmidt (USA), IMAGE-2:  October 29 (315°  Ls,  349°  CM)  Ron "B(ee)" Bhanukitsiri,  IMAGE-3:  (341°  CM)  Ed Grafton and IMAGE-4: (27°  CM) Adriano DeFreitas.  IMAGE-5:  October 30, by David Moore (316°  Ls,  7°  CM). This dust  cloud is new and occurs in Aram Regio (Thymiamata) and over Margaritifer Sinus; appears like a saxophone musical instrument.

Figure 16. Joel Warren [November 23 (329°  Ls)]: and Ed Grafton [November 24 ( 329°  Ls)] caught the last dust cloud seen in Chryse for the rest of the 2005 apparition. A long dust streak appears to be moving southeast in Chryse in the two images above.

The images above show a dust storm crossing from the Chryse region and spreading throughout much of the southern hemisphere of Mars in October of 2005 (308° - 315° Ls) . The storm began as what some described as a bright inverted-V shape in Chryse. Dust storms on Mars are often huge events, sometimes growing to cover the entire planet. The dust storm shown here doubled in size before it dissipated more than three weeks had passed.

Mars is a very dusty place. Orbiters and landers image “dust devils” on an almost daily basis. On a larger scale, astronomers frequently see transient yellow or orange clouds obscuring parts or all of the planet. While the massive planet-encircling storms are dramatic and firmly ingrained in Mars lore, they are fairly rare. There have been only ten such storms reported since 1877, with eight occurring since 1956. Far more common are the smaller localized or regional storms. While dust storms can occur at any season, they are much more prevalent during southern hemisphere spring and summer, when Mars is closer to the Sun. In 2005 Mars observers were treated to several of these events. Some were quite small and short-lived, but thanks to worldwide coverage and careful imaging techniques, many were captured that would have gone unnoticed a decade ago.

The ALPO Mars Section’s statistical analysis indicates that the number of dust clouds is more often observed from mid-southern summer (241° - 270° Ls), with a peak period at 255° Ls.  In the past, many of the major dust events occurred during the same seasonal period and led some researchers to refer to these major dust storms as "precursor storms prior to planet-encircling events." When a major dust event does occur during this period then we find that the highest probability of predicting planet-encircling dust storms occurs during mid-southern summer at or near 315° Ls.  The 2001 dust storm was an exception to this analysis and was a great surprise to Mars watchers.  It will take us several years to realize what happened in 2001; however, the nature of Mars is not well understood and may take a life time of study to find the secret of what causes the major dust storms on Mars.

This is worth repeating:   Hopefully, someone who has developed such programs, such as “WinJUPOS - Database for object positions on planets and the Sun” by Grischa Hahn (Dresden, Germany) or RegiStax et al,  would be interested in pursuing this goal and a more complete understanding of the Meteorology of Mars and its dust storms may be realized.

For continuing coverage of dust activity on Mars during the  2007 Apparition   or go back to the Sand Ships of Mars.