Director: K. Horikawa, Secretary: Y. Iga
The solar conjunction of Jupiter will come on Oct. 22. Though observation condition was quite poor, we have received observations from eager observers listed below.
| Observer | Location | Telescope | Images/Drawings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fukui, Hideto | (Shizuoka, Japan) | 25cm Refl. | 15 | images |
| Horikawa, Kuniaki | (Yokohama, Japan) | 16cm Refl. | 2 | drawings |
| Miyazaki, Isao | (Okinawa, Japan) | 40cm Refl. | 5 | images |
Though eruption of North Temperate Current-C was highly expected, single wide bright zone covering NTrZ and NTZ was observed without any sign of outbreak this month. Almost three years have passed since NTB disappeared late 2002. Because it is unusual for NTB to be invisible in such a long period, even in the past instance, it is possible that eruption of North Temperate Current-C may be imminent. Special attention should be paid in the next apparition, when NEBn edge will start to retreat.
RS was seen as reddish oval at II:107.8 deg. (Sep. 2, Fukui), and its northern part was somewhat faint, though poor condition prevent us from seeing details. STrZ was generally light without dark markings such as streak. Fukui's image on Sep. 2 showed dusky shading around II:85 deg., but it was uncertain that it was the dark ring which was observed from January until July. In SEB following RS, white oval could be seen in Miyazaki's image on Sep. 12, indicating that this region might have become active again, after quiet period for several months. In other domains, Fukui's image on Sep. 3 showed BA (II:264.6 deg.) and the isolated STrZ spot around II:200 deg. (see our last report), as well as a chain of jetstream spots on STBn.
Two months have passed since solar conjunction, and altitude of Saturn at sunrise already exceeds 50 deg. This month, we have received observations listed below, but amount of images was fewer as this stage of apparition, because closest approach of Mars was getting near, and most observers were attracted their attentions to it.
| Observer | Location | Telescope | Images/Drawings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fukui, Hideto | (Shizuoka, Japan) | 25cm Refl. | 1 | image |
| Ikemura, Toshihiko | (Nagoya, Japan) | 31cm Refl. | 6 | images |
| Neichi, Mitsuyuki | (Aomori, Japan) | 25cm Refl. | 1 | image |
| Takimoto, Ikuo | (Kagawa, Japan) | 31cm Refl. | 1 | image |
This apparition, Saturn shows different aspect from last apparition, as the ring tilt has decreased until high northern latitude of Saturn come into view from northern edge of the ring. Furthermore, Saturn's surfase also showed notable change. As seen in images taken in September, SSTZ surrounding South Polar Region had become as dark as SPR, completely changing with last apparition, when it was remarkably reddish. It is interesting that this change may present a darkening process of belt/zone on Saturn, as SSTZ was still slightly reddish according to Ikemura's image on Sep. 18.
SEB was the most prominent belt, but SEBs was faint and bluish in contrast to SEBn which was dark and reddish. To the south of SEB, STB was clearly seen though faint, and SSTB merged into darkened SSTZ described above. The brightest zone was southern part of EZ, while northern half was somewhat dusky. STrZ had warm tint and STZ was pale green.
(October 7, K. Horikawa)