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A group of amateur and professional astronomers collaborated to create what may be the highest resolution global map of Mars ever created with images taken from Earth.
The images were taken with the observatory’s 1 meter telescope Pic-du-Midi in the French Pyrenees, for several nights between October and November 2020, when Mars was in opposition, or its closest approach to Earth.
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“The team went to the observatory for a first mission from 7 to 18 October 2020,” said amateur astrophotographer Thierry Legault. Universe Today. “The weather was not very good (lots of clouds and even snow) and the view wasn’t good. But we recorded several videos and then they helped fill in the gaps on the global (360 °) map of Mars.”
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Hoping to add more data to his images, Legault continued to monitor the weather forecast and proposed François Colas (Paris Observatory astronomer, head of the 1-meter Pic-du-Midi telescope) for a second mission on May 29. . October to November 2.
With all the images, the astronomers were able to create the map, which “is a new milestone for ground-based observers,” Legault said.
The large amount of data meant they could also create a rotating “planisphere” version, as well as a double version, where viewers can use the cross-eye technique to view Mars in 3-D.
The Pic du Midi observatory sits atop the Pic du Midi de Bigorre in the French Pyrenees, at 2,877 meters high. Construction of the observatory began in 1878, and the observatory has produced some of the best images of other planets, taken by ground-based telescopes.
In the 1960s, NASA funded the installation of the 1-meter telescope to help produce a photographic atlas of the Moon, to help prepare for the Apollo missions.
Europa Press
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