This week, we were finally able to continue our project and take pictures. On Thursday we were able to get pictures of Castor and Mars to measure distance. The sky was very clear and great to take pictures. Castor rose fairly early so we were able to take a picture of it a little after. We went over how to take pictures and how to use all the equipment that went along with the telescope. Before Castor, we also took flats in order to measure for any dirt or excess from the telescope in the picture.
After Castor, the other group that was with us took their pictures. I had to leave at 7, which didn't matter since Mars did not even begin to rise until around 9:45. I came back around them and we waited until after 10 so we could just see Mars to take a distance picture. Although the sky was still clear, it was bitterly cold which was unfortunate. We tried to get the picture as fast as possible to get out of there and warm up.
Since we just needed distance pictures, at least for now, we didn't have a difficult time. We would like to get some better pictures of Mars but in order to do that we would need to stay up pretty late, so I'm not sure what we will do. The best pictures will be at opposition and I do not believe that Mars even rises until past 10. This would mean we would have to wait until very late for Mars to rise high enough to get good pictures.
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