The Online Digitized Sky Surveys (DSS1 & 2) server at the ESO/ST-ECF Archive provides access to the CD-ROM set produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute through its Guide Star Survey group. The images of these surveys are based on photographic data obtained using the Oschin Schmidt Telescope on Palomar Mountain and the UK Schmidt Telescope. The plates were processed into the present compressed digital form with the permission of these institutions. The photographic plates were scanned to a pixel scale of about 1.7 arcseconds per pixel for the POSS, SERC, and Palomar Quick-V surveys, and to about 1.0 arcseconds per pixel for the POSS-II surveys. Images of any part of the sky may be extracted from the DSS, in either FITS or GIF format.
