Pluto

Pluto is very faint (14.5 mg), is located in Ophiuchus where we can see it only in the muggy Summer, low over the horizon.

On three nights we took a series of images that show its motion.

Images taken: October 14-15-16, 2003

Telescope: Meade 12 in at f/5.6 (f=67 in), with an AO7 adaptive optics accessory in the little dome of Kennon Observatory.

Camera: SBIG ST-7 CCD

Image processing: CCDoops + Photoshop CS.

The glow is due to the strong streetlights.

We also took one image with better resolution.

Images taken: October 2-3-4, 2005

Student: Scott Ferguson

Telescope: Meade 12 in at f/5.6 (f=67 in), with an AO7 adaptive optics accessory in the little dome of Kennon Observatory.

Camera: SBIG ST-7 CCD

Exposures: 2 x 300 sec on each night, no filter.

Image processing: CCDoops + Photoshop CS + Adobe ImageReady CS.