Mars surface as seen by Mariner  IV photograph

Robinson, J. C.

English

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NEW MEXICO STATE UMIVERSITY 
U N I V E R S I T Y  P A R K  
NEW M E X I C O  
88070  
TIJ-70 1-66- LO 
OB SE RV AT0 RY 
TELEPHONE: 
LAS CRUCES, N . M .  
JACKSON 6-6611 
/ i 
ICATEOORYI 3% 1 I
GROUND-BASED PHOTOGRAPIiY OF TIE 
MARINER IV REGION OF MARS 
J .  C, Robinson 
GPO PRICE $ 
CSFTl PRICE(S) $ 
I 
$/&9 ~ Hard copy (HC) 
Microfiche (M F) 05-D 
ff 653 July 65 
August 1965 
Supported by 
NASA Grant NsG- 142-61 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19650023283 2020-03-17T00:54:19+00:00Z
c 
GR0UNL)- BASED PiIOTOGRAPHY OF THE 
;~IAIUNER IV REGION OF FlAKS 
J. C, I' ,o b '  inson 
New blexico S t a t e  Univers i ty  Observatory 
Photography of  i.Iars i n  f ive  c o l o r  reg ions  a t  New Llexico S t a t e  
Univers i ty  y i e lded  a t o t a l  o f  339 p l a t e s  covering c e n t r a l  meridian 
longi tudes  90° - 240° 
path of i5lasiner I V ,  
thus  inc luding  observable  po r t ions  of  t h e  
O f  t haz  i1uniber, 251 p l a t e s  were of  s u f f i c i e n t  
q u a l i t y  t o  warrant conyos i te  copying i n  o rde r  t o  e x t r a c t  a maximum 
amount o f  inforiLia%ion concerning this r eg ion ,  Although t h e  l i n e a r  
r e s o l u t i o n  of t h e  b e s t  of these pJlates i s  roughly two orders  o f  
uagnitude poorer  than  t h a t  expected i n  t h e  Plariner photographs, 
+hey neve r the l e s s  should be of some va lue  i n  c o r r e l a t i n g  t h e  l a t t e r  
w i t h  f e a t u r e s  obsesvablc from the  e a r t h ,  The wave-length reg ions  
included were u l t r a v i o l e t ,  b lue,  green, red ,  and nea r - in f r a red ,  
During !.tost of  t i l e  1903 appa r i t i on  a c e r t a i n  anlobant of  genera l  
sv,rFase obscura t ion  by atmosi)heric haze was suspec ted  between areo- 
graphic  longi tudes  80" and  I ~ u ' ,  
i nva r i ab ly  co7:ered the Titarsis ( A  100°> and Arcadia [ A  X30°$ reg ions  
on b lue  and green p l a t e s ,  
t he  haze dens i ty  was probably g r e a t e r  during most of  this a p p a r i t i o n ,  
ilowever, a c lose  coiiiparisori with the 1303 p l a t e s  is very d i f f i c u l t  
t o  iiiake, both because o f  %he genera l ly  poorer  s ee ing  and t h e  h igne r  
c o n t r a s t  i i q e s  [ d i f f e r e n t  processing techniques  were used) ex tan t  
i n  1963b The p ro jec t ed  p a t h  o f  ; .lariner I V  was r e l a t i v e l y  nea r  t h e  
1x1 add i t ion ,  two l a rge  clouds 
The rPpeasance i n  1965 was similar, but  
c 
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TN-701-66-10 
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western lii~iits o f  t h e  haze,  and appears  t o  have been wi th in  it much 
of t h e  t i r m  Thus it i s  poss ib l e  t h a t  no t  as much su r face  d e t a i l  
was recorded as might nave been otherwise,  
The da te  of  foriiiation of %he haze is  unknown. I t  appears t o  be 
p re sen t  on t h e  first; green p l a t e  of usable  q u a l i t y  obta ined  9 Decern- 
b e r  1964, I t  was always s t ronges t  between longi tudes  90" and 140°, 
and obscura t ion  was g r e a t e s t  i n  e a r l y  Apr i l  1965, 
much i n  evidence as l a t e  a s  June 1965, as evidenced by a lack o f  
The haze was s t i l l  
v i s i b i l i t y  of t h e  Trivium Charontis ( A  193") and Propont is  ( A X  150" - 
180") areas as well as the  presence o f  limb br ighten ing  i n  a l l  colors,, 
The 6':s disk  of  Mass on 1 4  J u l y  precluded t h e  record ing  o f  much s u r -  
f a c e  d e t a i l ,  Ilowever, i t  can be s a i d  t h a t  t h e  increased  c o n t r a s t  
o f  t h e  Triviuili Charont is  arid Propont is  a t  t h a t  time i n d i c a t e d  a 
probable  decrease i n  haze a t  those longi tudes ,  Fur ther  east a t  X 120" 
its continued presence was suggested by limb b r igh ten ing  on a r ed  
p l a t e ,  
The d iu rna l  behavior  of the haze i n  t h e  lower l a t i t u d e s  ( i o e o ,  
no r th  of blare Sirenum) covered by blariner I V  was such t h a t  i t  gen- 
e r a l l y  seemed t o  c l e a r  considerably by l o c a l  noon, but  gradual ly  
forriled again as t h e  afteraloon progressed,  Such proIliinent f e a t u r e s  
as Trivium Charont is  and Proponitis were o f t e n  completely i n v i s i b l e  
on green p l a t e s  during the  morning hours ,  and ba rc ly  p e r c e p t i b l e  
even i n  t h e  r ed ,  By the tiine t h e s e  f e a t u r e s  reached t h e  c e n t r a l  
meridian,  they  would appear reasonably normal i n  t h e  red ,  but s t i l l  
i n d i s t i n c t  i n  t h e  green 
. .  
a -  
"?4-701-66-10 . 
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The dark f e a t u r e s  recorded along t h e  Mariner pa th  are summarized 
i r i  Table I ,  Three of t hese  mrk ings ,  v i z o ,  Trivium Charoratis, Titanum 
Sinus,  and a f e a t u r e  i d e n t i f i e d  i n  t h e  t a b l e  as Propont i s  I ,  were s u f -  
f i c i e n t l y  prominent f o r  direct  p o s i t i o n a l  de te rmina t ion  with a blann 
measuring engine,  Only crude de termina t ions  o f  t h e  o t h e r  p o s i t i o n s  
have s o  far been made due t o  problems of  low c o n t r a s t ,  The longi tudes  
are r e f e r r e d  t o  t h e  zero poin t  def ined  by the  American Ephemeris _I_ and 
Naut ica l  Alliianac 
TABLE I 
DARK FEATURES 
Propont i s  I 
Titanum Sinus 
Trivium Charonti  s 
Hecates Lacus (?) 
Saus 
Tart arus 
Saus -Tar ta rus  i n t  erse c t i o n  
Gigas 
Erebus 
Thc re l a t i v e  l y  l a rge  
oas i s  
care t  (blo Sirenum) 
oas i s  
o a s i s  
canal 
canal 
canals  
canal 
canal 
181" 
167" 
193O 
130° 
160" = 180" 
16'17" - 195" 
171" 
125'-167' 
144' -1 175" 
l a t i t u d e  discrepancy between t h e  p re sen t  and 
e a r l i e r  de te rmina t ions  of Propontis I (z 40' N )  l eads  t h e  writer t o  
. .  
TN-701-66= 10 * 
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rjuspect t h i s  f e a t u r e  may not r e a l l y  be Propont i s  I ,  but a more r ecen t  
dark developriient t o  t h e  south ,  However, i f  t h i s  i s  t r u e ,  then  Propon- 
t i s  I i s  now an ind i s t ingu i shab le  f e a t u r e  between t h i s  new marking and 
Propont i s  11, some 20° f u r t h e r  nor th ,  
s i n g l e  poin ted  wedge, i n  con t r a s t  t o  t h e  double-pronged c h a r a c t e r  
shown on maps by S l i p h e r  (1962) Tombaugh (1965) and o t h e r s ,  However, 
t h e  ex i s t ence  of  another  p o i n t  may we l l  be masked by t h e  r e so lu t ion  
l i m i t a t i o n s  of t h e  30-cm, r e f l e c t o r ,  The commonly dep ic t ed  t r i a n g u l a r  
form of  Trivium Charont is  was not obvious on the  p l a t e s ,  
f o r  t h i s  i s  found i n  t h e  completely d i f f e r e n t  appearance o f  t h e  southern  
p a r t  o f  t h e  Trivium and t h e  nor thern  p a r t  which makes up t h e  " t r i ang le" ,  
The southern p a r t  appeared cor,ipletely i n t e g r a t e d  with t h e  Cerberus I ,  
forming one long dark b a r - l i k e  narking of  uniforiii width and shading,  
The " t r iangle" ,  on t h e  o t h e r  hand, was a very d i f f u s e ,  l i g h t l y  shaded 
region j u s t  t o  t h e  n o r t h  of  t he  e a s t e r n  end of  t h e  b a r ,  and appeared 
t o  be more p rope r ly  cons idered  a p a r t  of the  Ilecates Lacus, descr ibed  
below, 
Titanum Sinus  appeared as a 
The reason 
A few canals  were f a i n t l y  recorded c ross ing  the hlariner pa th ,  
I t  seems worthwhile t o  emphasize t h a t  t h e  term "canal" i s  merely a 
word used t o  denote a p a r t i c u l a r  t ype  of  dark s u r f a c e  f e a t u r e  which 
i s  gene ra l ly  q u i t e  narrow i n  coniparison t o  i t s  l eng th ,  
t h a t  such a high percentage of cana l s  are n e a r  t h e  limits of de t e r -  
t i o n  from the e a r t h  has l ed  t o  iiiuch confusion and doubt concerning 
t h e i r  ex i s t ence ,  Actua l ly ,  a goodly nurher  of such narkings have 
d e f i n i t e l y  been recorded photographical ly  a t  t h i s  observatory over  
rile p a s t  t h r e e  a p p a r i t i o n s ,  and t h e i r  r e a l i t y  i s  i n d i s p u t a b l e ,  O f  
The fact  
7"- 70 1-66- 10 
Page 5 
course,  l i t t l e  can be s a i d  concerning t h e  n a t u r e  of  t h e s e  f e a t u r e s  
o t h e r  than  t h e  fact  t h a t  t h e i r  widths must be on t h e  o r d e r  sf $0 km 
OF more t o  be recorded from t h e  e a r t h ,  
even appear t o  have measurable widths,  sugges t ing  t h e  t r u e  widths  of 
500 lam o r  more, 
Some cana l s ,  such as t h e  Gigas, 
The cana l  known as Hades, which is normally shown connect ing 
Hecates Lacus wi th  Propont i s  I (S l ipher ,  19623, appeared t o  be l o s t  
i n  t h e  l a rge  p e r i p h e r a l  development of Heeates Lacus i t s e l f ,  This 
development, though somewhat f a i n t ,  was l a rge  enough t o  g ive  t h e  
appearance of  almost touching both the  Trivium Charont is  and Pro- 
p o n t i s ,  The f e a t u r e  r e f e r r e d  t o  as t h e  Erebus cana l  a c t u a l l y  had 
t h e  appearance of  a broad d i f f u s e  area a t  least  650 krii ac ross  nea r  
X 150°, 
t o  t h e  c e n t e r  of t h e  e a s t e r n  and western limits of  t h e  a rea ,  
The l a t i t u d e s  given f o r  t h i s  f e a t u r e  i n  Table I refer only 
A number of b r i g h t  r eg ions  were observed t o  repea ted ly  e x h i b i t  
changes i n  b r i g h t n e s s  which can be due only t o  clouds, haze,  o r  
f r o s t  on t h e  ground, 
i n d i c a t i v e  of topographic inf luence ,  
n e z r  the Mariner t r a c k  are l i s t e d  i n  Table 11 ,  Not a l l  cloud reg ions  
d isp layed  t h e  same d iu rna l  behavior,  For example, c louds were com- 
mon i n  a l l  of t h e s e  regions during morning hours ,  however, Lubar, 
Azania, and Phlegra were always f r e e  of  c louds by e a r l y  af ternoon 
while  Lumen was sometimes covered t o  some e x t e n t  throughout t h e  day, 
Elysium was usua l ly  (but n o t  always) free of clouds by af te rnoon,  
T h e i r  recurrence i n  t h e  same a reas  is s t rong ly  
Severa l  of t h e s e  areas on o r  
. .  
7"-701-66-10 
Page 6 
TABLE I1 
REGIONS OF CLOUDS OR BRIGIT HAZE 
Approximate P o s i t  i on  [ cent  e r) 1Re ion  x P 
Phlegra 2 x lob  187' +42" 
Elysium 12 x lo5  215' +20° 
A t l a n t i s  12 x l o 4  170' , 2 9 O  
Lumen 10 x l o 4  163' - 2 O O  
Electr is  7 x lo5 180' -50' 
Azania 12 x l o a  185' +26O 
Lub ar 7 x lo4 180° 18" 
Tne composites of both green and red  p l a t e s  of  14 J u l y  suggest  
t h e  presence of an arc of white over  t h e  south  limb, comprising t h e  
Ausonia ( A  250") and Er idan ia  ( A  220') regions.  
v i s i b l e  on t h e  b lue  p l a t e ,  i n d i c a t i n g  e i t h e r  a low l e v e l  cloud o r  
f r o s t  on the  ground, E a r l i e r  p l a t e s ,  exposed when the  b r i n e s  t r a c k  
was iiiuch n e a r e r  t o  t h e  c e n t r a l  meridian, are not  of s u f f i c i e n t  q u a l -  
i t y  t o  y i e l d  cloud d a t a  f o r  any of  t h e  regions o f  Table 11, 
T h i s  arc i s  not 
Much of  t h e  c r e d i t  f o r  t h i s  work is due A,  S ,  Mumell and J ,  11, 
ilartstb, who dbtained a l a rge  number of e x c e l l e n t  p l a t e s ,  arid t o  
Rqbert L o  F r i t z  who made a l l  o f t h e  composite copies ,  X i i s  work 
war supported by t h e  Nat ional  Aeronautics and Space Aduiinistsation 
L I Grant NsG-142-61, . .- 
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REFERENCES 
S l i p h e r ,  E ,  C, (1962), "A Photographic Hi s to ry  of filars", L,owe11 
Observatory,  F l a g s t a f f ,  Arizona, * 
Tornbaugh, C, W, (1965) a "Provis ional  Topographic Map of  blars, 
Mariner 4 Region", TN-701-66-8, N e w  Mexico S t a t e  Univers i ty  
Observatory,  July 1965. 


Ground-based photography of the mariner iv region of mars

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