Transit of Martian satellites

Bill J Gray Mar 22, 2004

Hi Masaki, George,

Thanks for mentioning these transits; I should be able to use
them to test any new theories for Phobos and Deimos.

I have been able to dig out some data for both the ESAPHO/ESADEI
method and a somewhat simpler one used by JPL. Both date back to
around 1989; I'm looking for either a more up-to-date theory, or
(more likely) more "current" constants for the existing theories.

I turned up the following coordinates for the landers:

Opportunity is at W 5.53, S 1.95;
Spirit is at E 175.47, S 14.57.

Using the above location for Opportunity, I got "almost, but
not quite" transits for both moons on the dates mentioned in the
_Sky & Telescope_ article.

-- Bill