Editing Palomar Observatory (section)

===POSS-I===
The initial [[National Geographic Society - Palomar Observatory Sky Survey|Palomar Observatory Sky Survey]] (POSS or POSS-I), sponsored by the [[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]] Institute, was completed in 1958. The first plates were exposed in November 1948 and the last in April 1958. This survey was performed using 14-inch<sup>2</sup> (6-[[degree (angle)|degree]]<sup>2</sup>) blue-sensitive (Kodak 103a-O) and red-sensitive (Kodak 103a-E) photographic plates on the Oschin Telescope. The survey covered the sky from a [[declination]] of +90° ([[Celestial pole|celestial north pole]]) to −27° and all [[right ascension]]s and had a sensitivity to +22 [[apparent magnitude|magnitude]]s (about 1&nbsp;million times fainter than the limit of human vision). A southern extension extending the sky coverage of the POSS to −33° [[declination]] was shot in 1957–1958. The final POSS I dataset consisted of 937 plate pairs.

The [[Digitized Sky Survey]] (DSS) produced images which were based on the photographic data developed in the course of POSS-I.<ref>Minnesota Automated Plate Scanner (MAPS): [http://aps.umn.edu/ MAPS catalogue]; Mollise, Rod. (2006). {{Google books|Z0mvZk0s_TMC|''The Urban Astronomer's Guide: a Walking tour of the Cosmos for City Sky Watchers'' |page=238}}</ref>

J.B. Whiteoak, an Australian radio astronomer, used the same instrument to extend POSS-I data south to −42° [[declination]]. Whiteoak's observations used the same field centers as the corresponding northern declination zones. Unlike POSS-I, the [[Whiteoak extension]] consisted only of red-sensitive (Kodak 103a-E) photographic plates.