From William SHEEHAN
@. . .
. . . . . . Sent:
Subject:
Dear
Masatsugu,
I don't
know how closely you've examined the Mars Odyssey X-ray spectrometer map of
epithermal neutrons yet -- the web site is
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0203 →nmars odyssey
full.jpg
(note the slopover line isn't
intentional)
The
blue areas are those where there's supposed to be water-ice near the surface,
and the largest concentrations are around the South Pole. There's also a good-sized patch in the
Vastitas Borealis area, which is no surprise since geologists for a long time
have conjectured that an old Martian sea once sat here.
What
intrigues me, though -- and you'll have to play around with the orientation a
bit, because the map is perversely centered at 180 degrees of longitude -- are
the blue patches in the subequatorial region.
There
are several patches of blue that circumnavigate the location of Schiaparelli
crater, with the largest located just at the equator and at longitude 330
degrees. There's also a little
patch at about 150 degrees longitude; this one lies just south of the equator,
in the desert region that lies north of
Mare Sirenum in terms of topographical reference
points.
The
association of several equatorial blue patches with the Edom Prom area generally
is what intrigues me -- and leads me to propose we might put out a 2003
ephemeris for flash phenomena for both the Edom Prom area and also the 150
degree longitude position. Any
thoughts? I'll pass this message
along to Dobbins and Martin Gaskell as well.
With
all good wishes.
Bill SHEEHAN (