Observation Log - January 17, 2001

Observation Log - January 17, 2001 - Tinton Falls, NJ

[NOTE: The seeing was great tonight, despite the cold (34 -> 27 degrees F), the moon, and the snow cover on the ground. Setup on the 12" Meade LX200 was the Crayford focuser/f3.3 reducer/1.25" visual back/MX516 camera. Tonight the images were all taken WITHOUT the IR blocking filter. I did a very good set of flats and darks just before dawn. The dew heater kept the moisture at bay tonight, and I only got a light dew on the corrector plate at the end of the last few images. Had plenty so I was able to throw away the poor ones. - GW]

M65, a spiral galaxy in Leo, magnitude 9.3, dimensions 9'.8 x 2'.9 and a distance of 24 million light years. The frames were shot between 3:08 and 4:33 a.m. the morning of January 17. This composite was made from 73 exposures for a total integration time of 73 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited. Then I moved the image into MaxIm. Once there, I applied a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, medium), an unsharp mask (FFT, low-pass, hard) and the image was finished with a contrast stretch.

M78, a diffuse nebula in Orion, magnitude 8.0, dimensions 8' x 6'. and a distance of 1,630 light years. The frames were shot between 7:19 and 7:55 p.m. the evening of January 16. This composite was made from 31 exposures for a total integration time of 31 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited. I also applied a mild unsharp mask. Then I moved the image into MaxIm. Once there, I applied a Digital Development filter (kernel, low-pass), and a light contrast stretch to maintain detail in the brighter parts of the nebula. Here is another version of the same image, but with a stronger contrast enhancement to bring out the fainter parts.

NGC1700, an elliptical galaxy in Eridanus, magnitude 11.2, dimensions 3' x 2', and a distance of 170 million light years. The images were shot between 8:44 and 9:29 p.m. the evening of January 16. This composite was made from 39 exposures for a total integration time of 39 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited. I moved the image into MaxIm and applied a Digital Development filter (kernel, low-pass), and a light contrast stretch to maintain detail around the brighter parts of the galaxy. [Note: the brightening at the top right side is a mag 7 star that is just out of the image field.]

NGC2359, also know as Thor's Helmet, a bright nebula in Canis Major, diameter 8', and a distance of 4,000 light years. The images were shot between 11:33 and 1:16 a.m. the morning of January 17. This composite was made from 74 exposures for a total integration time of 74 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited and a mild unsharp mask was used. I moved the image into MaxIm and applied a Digital Development filter (kernel, low-pass, more), and a contrast stretch.

NGC672, a spiral galaxy in Triangulum, magnitude 10.9, dimensions 7'.2 x 2'.8, and a distance of 25 million light years. The images were taken between 8:00 and 8:39 p.m. the evening of January 16. This composite was made from 30 exposures for a total integration time of 30 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited. I moved the image into MaxIm and applied a Digital Development filter (kernel, low-pass), and a contrast stretch.

NGC1600, a galaxy in Eridanus, magnitude 10.9, dimensions 3'.2 x 2'.1, and a distance of 210 million light years. The little galaxy above NGC1600 is NGC1601, mag 13.8, 36" x 18", surface brightness 12.5 mag/sq arcmin. To the left is NGC1603, mag 13.8, 48" x 30", s.b. 13.2. And in the top left corner is NGC1606, mag 17.0, 24" x 24", s.b. 13.7. There are several other galaxies in this photo that are too faint to appear in my catalog. The images were taken between 9:34 and 10:46 p.m. the evening of January 16. This composite was made from 50 exposures for a total integration time of 50 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited. I moved the image into MaxIm for a contrast stretch.

NGC4051, a spiral galaxy in Ursa Major (a Seyfert galaxy), magnitude 10.2, dimensions 6'.0 x 5'.0, and a distance of 32 million light years. The images were taken between 1:30 and 3:03 a.m. the morning of January 17. This composite was made from 66 exposures for a total integration time of 66 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited. I moved the image into MaxIm for a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and an unsharp mask (FFT, low-pass, hard), and finally a contrast stretch.

NGC3893, a spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, magnitude 10.5, dimensions 4'.6 x 2'.5, and a distance of 45 million light years. Another galaxy in this image, at the 7:00 position from NGC3893, is NGC3896, magnitude 12.9, 1'.8 x 1'.0, s.b. 14.4. And a third galaxy at the 10:00 position is PGC36913, magnitude 15.8, 24" x 21". The images were taken between 4:38 and 6:04 a.m. the morning of January 17. This composite was made from 68 exposures for a total integration time of 68 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited. I moved the image into MaxIm for a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and an unsharp mask (FFT, low-pass, hard), and finally a contrast stretch.

NGC1444, an open cluster in Perseus, magnitude 6.6, diameter 4', and a distance of 3,300 light years. The images were taken between 10:55 and 11:11 p.m. the evening of January 16. This composite was made from 30 exposures for a total integration time of 10 minutes. (Exposures were kept short to try to keep the bright mag 6.8 star from blooming.) All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited. I moved the image into MaxIm for an MED step, and a contrast stretch.