MARS SOUTH POLAR CAP SIZE AND POSITION IN 2018
Abstract
The writer has examined hundreds of Earth-based images of Mars’s South Polar Cap (SPC) made during mid-2018. The data were fit to the best fit circle centered at xo and yo. The writer examined the mean radius and cap centers for the first half of the Martian southern spring. It is concluded the mean discrepancy between the mean SPC radius in 2018 and 1999 was nearly zero. (The 1999 SPC radii are based on Mars Global Surveyor data.) In mid-2018, the SPC was centered at a mean latitude of 88.5° S with a standard deviation of 0.50° of latitude. Between Ls = 202° and 230°, the mean longitude was 25° W with a standard deviation of 19°. The longitude of the cap center before Ls = 202° ranged from 83° W to 288° W.
Acknowledgements
The writer is grateful to those who have maintained the ALPO Japan Latest website and to those who have contributed Mars images to this site.
Recommended Citation
Schmude, Richard W. Jr.
(2019)
"MARS SOUTH POLAR CAP SIZE AND POSITION IN 2018,"
Georgia Journal of Science, Vol. 77, No. 1, Article 121.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.gaacademy.org/gjs/vol77/iss1/121