Finding a Good Mars Map

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Mark Moyer
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Finding a Good Mars Map

#1

Post by Mark Moyer »


I've had trouble finding a good Mars map, but I think I've largely solved my problem. This post is to share what I've found to help others, though any further suggestions are definitely welcome.

The problem
I've been observing Mars a fair amount lately (best views until 2035!). I sketch what I see and then I go home and want to compare my sketch with a good Mars map. But I had great trouble finding one. For those who want to have a map to compare while they're observing, and for those imagers who want to compare their images and see what they've imaged, it's much the same problem. I've found it tough to correlate my sketches with maps, but one reason is that it's hard to correlate the maps with each other. I'm interested in maps that show visible dark and light regions (albedo maps), and the different maps say different things!

What is needed
A solution to my problem would satisfy various needs.
1) I'd like the map to have labels for the sorts of features I might be able to see.
Many maps have no labels or too few labels, and Stellarium has the opposite problem so when you click on a large dark patch to find out what it is, it will tell you the name of a minuscule crater within that dark patch.
2) I'd like the map to match my view as far as the limbs go.
Many maps present a Mercator or Eckert projection that wraps around the whole surface of Mars in one map. Some present two maps that are the two opposite sides of Mars. But it's surprisingly difficult to figure out what anything near the limb should look like given these projections. For example, when looking at the S&T Mars Profiler, I saw the tip of Syrtis Major sticking down (Newtonian view) a little bit away from the edge, so I thought this was the bump I had sticking down on my sketch. But when I later saw images taken at the same time I realized the tip of Syrtis Major wasn't at all visible because it was too close to the limb, and my bump was in fact Comer Sinus.
3) I'd like the map to match my view as far as the polar regions go.
Because planets are tilted towards us at the poles, and because the amount of tilt varies, it can be tough to figure out what things should look like just given a map.
4) I'd like it to be a fairly accurate map.
One problem is that very old maps aren't that accurate. But there's a bigger problem, which is that the features of Mars change over time. We're all familiar with the polar caps melting throughout the season. And then there's the clouds that form on the limb that will vary from one night to the next. And clouds that form because of mountains also vary. There are the dust storms that will alter what we see, of course, but these can have longer lasting effects as well (from what I've heard on the forums, the planet-wide dust storm at last opposition has made some changes that we still see today).

Some semi-good solutions
In the past I've used the S&T Mars Profiler and Stellarium to address 2 & 3. Another nice resource is the National Geographic Mars Map from the 1970's. It shows albedo variations plainly, it's fairly detailed, and rather than two view 180 degrees apart, it shows three views 120 degrees apart. It's even accessible on-line: https://i.redd.it/sji7lxopbq901.jpg (though I worry if it is posted as a violation of copyright laws).

Some better solutions
One resource that is ideal in some respect are simply images people have taken at that time you were observing. I've often been able to do a search and find an image someone took that I can use. One big advantage of this is you'll get exactly those features that are present at that time, whether it's a polar hood, clouds over Olympus, etc. And you'll see Mars with the right tilt and rotation (assuming you find an image taken at roughly the time you were observing). One good place to search is on Cloudy Nights under Solar System Imaging and Processing. Of course, you still have to find a labelled map to know what those features are.
Another resource I recently found is Ralph Aeschliman's maps that have a labeled Mercator projection together with 9 unlabeled globular views (i.e., every 40 degrees): http://www.ralphaeschliman.com/ralphaeschliman_040.htm
Another solution is National Geographic's 2016 Mars map. This has more current albedo data and more detail. What you see on the site are two not-so-big images of Mars, but you can click on the image to make it full screen and to zoom in: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/hires/mars/
Finally, I have discovered JUPOS. If only someone had told me about it before! The program will show you a globular view of Mars (or any other planet) that is what should be visible at the time and date you specify. So it's much like Stellarium in this respect. But you can enter the image maps that it will use to show you, and these can be found on-line. So, e.g., you can enter an image map is fairly recent and that has had labels added. (Actually, the program is much more sophisticated than I've described, created for people contributing to the science of, especially, Jupiter. To get a sense of the sophistication, Mars is simple since it rotates at a particular rate, but it is designed for Jupiter which has different rotational rates at different latitudes.) You'll still have to use other maps for smaller details, but it helps so much having the globular view that should match what you see fairly closely.

To download JUPOS, go here: http://jupos.privat.t-online.de/index.htm
To get labeled images to use, go here: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/7283 ... s-texture/
or go here (part way down): https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/6164 ... try8564610
Here's a short and simple tutorial useful for getting JUPOS going:
and here's a short tutorial to help you load images ('texture files'):

Please let me know if anything I've said is wrong or if you know of other useful resources!
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Finding a Good Mars Map

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Post by Bigzmey »


A very nice review of issues we are facing as Mars observers and resources to help us.

As you I use a combination of resources, since no one does it all. I have discovered that SkySafari app is very accurate in displaying the albedo features for your time and location, but hit and miss as far as labeling of the features go.

After the session is done I compare my sketches and SkySafari screenshot to the S&T Mars Profiler and Virtual Planet app to assign the labels. In the Virtual Planet I use Hubble 2007 texture.

Here is the link to VP page

http://ap-i.net/avp/en/start
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
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Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Finding a Good Mars Map

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Post by Mark Moyer »


Many thanks for the great resources, Andrey! I've downloaded VP, which is great in many respects. But it's not displaying albedo features, only geological features. So it doesn't have common things like Syrtis Major or Mare Cimmerium. Is this because I'm using the default texture and so if I moved to Hubble 2007 it would fix this? I downloaded and installed the extra textures but I can't see it among the overlays. Any ideas?

I also need to download SkySafari (so many people use it, so I should have it!) and check it out.
Again, many thanks!
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Finding a Good Mars Map

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Post by Bigzmey »


Mark Moyer wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 2:19 am Many thanks for the great resources, Andrey! I've downloaded VP, which is great in many respects. But it's not displaying albedo features, only geological features. So it doesn't have common things like Syrtis Major or Mare Cimmerium. Is this because I'm using the default texture and so if I moved to Hubble 2007 it would fix this? I downloaded and installed the extra textures but I can't see it among the overlays. Any ideas?

I also need to download SkySafari (so many people use it, so I should have it!) and check it out.
Again, many thanks!
Sure thing! In VP you go to 'Configuration' -> 'Texture". Next to Historical there is a pull down menu and one of the options is Hubble_2007.
Under 'Configuration' -> 'General' you set Latitude and Longitude.
Under 'Ephemeris', which is in the right hand corner, you can pick custom date/time to see how Mars will look.

VP mostly uses geological labels. Some of them are easy to translate into albedo features: Hellas is still Hellas, Mare Tyrrhenum = Tyrrhena Terra, and so on. For the albedo labels that missing I compare VP view with ST Mars Profiler. Mars Profiler has all the labels, but in the square format, which is often hard to align with the view in EP. VP aligns nicely with EP view.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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ARock
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Re: Finding a Good Mars Map

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Post by ARock »


I have been looking for a good map of Mars too, most of the albedo maps are old. I ended up using this from CN
https://rkinnett.github.io/mars/

There are a lot of base layers, the mgs_tes albedo layer is the closest to what I have observed. Labelling is not as good, but I can switch between the albedo layer and one of the labeled layers to get a rough name of the area. Then I go look up the hires map like National Geographic to locate detailed labels.

Some more info about mgs_tes: Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES)
https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/ma ... obal_7410m

There is also a work in progress for
https://rkinnett.github.io/jupiter/
AR
Scopes: Zhumell Z8, Meade Adventure 80mm, Bushnell 1300x100 Goto Mak.
Mount: ES EXOS Nano EQ Mount, DIY Arduino+Stepper drives.
AP: 50mm guidescope, AR0130 based guidecam, Canon T3i, UHC filter.
EPs: ES82 18,11,6.7mm, Zhumell 30,9mm FJ Ortho 9mm, assorted plossls, Meade 2x S-F Barlow, DGM NPB filter.
Binos: Celestron Skymaster 15x70 (Albott tripod/monopod), Nikon Naturalist 7x35.
Mark Moyer
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Re: Finding a Good Mars Map

#6

Post by Mark Moyer »


ARock wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:42 am I have been looking for a good map of Mars too, most of the albedo maps are old. I ended up using this from CN
https://rkinnett.github.io/mars/

There are a lot of base layers, the mgs_tes albedo layer is the closest to what I have observed. Labelling is not as good, but I can switch between the albedo layer and one of the labeled layers to get a rough name of the area. Then I go look up the hires map like National Geographic to locate detailed labels.

Some more info about mgs_tes: Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES)
https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/ma ... obal_7410m

There is also a work in progress for
https://rkinnett.github.io/jupiter/

Wow, that's an excellent albedo map -- many thanks, AR!
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