Image Credits

These FITS images were obtained from the Space Telescope Science Institute's (STScI) Digitized Sky Survey (DSS). These images were digitized from Palomar Sky Survey photographic plates (which were originally obtained with the 48-inch Oschin Schmidt camera at Palomar). The DSS can be used to obtain such images of any object you might be interested in analyzing in SIP. The images are of the Messier objects M51 (the "Whirlpool Galaxy"), M1 (the Crab Nebula), and M13 (the globular cluster in Hercules).

m51ccd.fit, atlas1.fit, atlas2.fit

The FITS image of M51 (m51ccd.fit) was taken by students Adam Drake, Victor Gehman, Seth Hornstein, and Chad King at Virginia Tech using an ST-7 camera from SBIG on the 0.4m f/4 reflector at the Martin Observatory. The FITS images of the moon (atlas1.fit, atlas2.fit) were taken by Virginia Tech students Felisa Vaughn and Patricia Watson, who were interested in imaging the region near the crater Atlas. They used a Lynxx camera (from SpectraSource). The larger field was obtained using a 4-inch f/12 refractor; the smaller field was taken through a 12-inch f/16 Cassegrain.