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MARS
Each photo is described in detail, including exposures, equipment used, dates, and processing.
All of the 2001 images used a 10" Newtonian telescope with the AO-2 to project the image to the SBIG ST-7 camera and CFW-8 filter wheel. The effective focal length is 14.1 m, giving a plate scale of about 7.6 pixels per arcsecond (3.8 pixels/arcsec in 2x binned mode). This is slightly over F/60, so even the central core of the Airy disk is spread over 4 pixels.
The 2003 images used the same telescope, but with two Barlow lenses in series to get F/33 directly onto a Philips ToUcam CCD; the short exposures of this bright planet did not require image stabilization, so the AO-2 was not used. To compensate for the lower signal-to-noise ratio provided by the camera, multiple frames were added for the final image.
- Mars2001 - early images showed promise, until the global dust storm hid most of the planet.
- Mars2003 - high resolution images using a webcam.
- Mars2005 - first images with the 16" telescope
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