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B.A. Cantor (The University of Toledo), G. Jensen (Western Michigan University), M. J. Wolff, P. B. James (The University of Toledo)
Mars has been synoptically monitored by the Hubble Space Telescope from December 13, 1990 through October 9, 1997. In 1994, the HST spherical aberration was corrected with the installation of the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). With the improved optics of the WFPC2 and the high angular resolution of the Planetary Camera (0.0442-0.0455 arcseconds per pixel) we have been able to resolve the Martian satellite Phobos. Phobos has been observed with the Planetary Camera from the ultraviolet (218 nm) to the near-infrared (1042 nm) in the phase range from 10.6 to 40.5 degrees. Although it is the larger of the two Martian moons, with a long axis diameter of 27 km, Phobos is only resolved at best as a two pixel source in the HST observations. We will thus report here the results of our integrated disk photometry. This research was supported by the Space Telescope Science Institute through GO grant number 5832.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: bcantor@astro1.panet.utoledo.edu