Description
Accurate positional measurements of planets and satellites are used to improve their orbits, our knowledge of their dynamics and to infer the accuracy of the planet and satellite ephemerides. In the framework of the European FP7 ESPaCE program, we provide the positions of Mars, Phobos, and Deimos taken with the U.S. Naval Observatory 61-inch astrometric reflector and 26-inch refractor from 1967 to 1997. 425 astrophotographic plates were measured with the digitizer of the Royal Observatory of Belgium and reduced through an optimal process which includes image, instrumental, and spherical corrections using the UCAC4 catalog to provide the most accurate equatorial (RA, DEC) positions.
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