Mars

The photographic process uses a telescope-mounted webcam to record a video sequence. The individual video frames (a) are then stacked on top of each other and their average value is calculated (b). This reduces noise and can help to cancel out some of the distortion effects caused by the Earth's atmosphere. Image processing is then used to sharpen the image (c) and to adjust the image colour tones (d) to more closely match the planet's actual appearance. A CalSKY simulated image (e) is shown for reference.

The effective resolution of these images is 80 km per pixel. A similar view of Mars taken by the Hubble Space Telescope can be found here.