Observation Log - January 26, 2001

Observation Log - January 26, 2001 - Tinton Falls, NJ

[NOTE: The seeing was quite good tonight, although there was quite a breeze until midnight. Temperature was stable at 20F. No heaters and no frost tonight. Setup on the 12" Meade LX200 was the Crayford focuser/f3.3 reducer/1.25" visual back/MX516 camera, and the images were all taken WITHOUT the IR blocking filter. Used flats from tonight and the previous night both, and darks and bias frames from 01/24/01, as I had left the setup the same. - GW]

NGC744, an open cluster in Perseus, magnitude 7.9, diameter 10', a distance of 4,900 light years, and an age of 39 million years. This is a single-frame images shot at 6:48 p.m. the evening of January 25. The frame was calibrated in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, and the only enhancement was a contrast stretch.

NGC1087, a galaxy in Cetus, magnitude 10.9, dimensions 4'.0 x 3'.0, surface brightness is 12.7 mag/sq arcmin, and a distance of 80 million light years. This is a 45- minute integration shot between 6:57 and 8:20 p.m. the evening of January 25. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. The resulting image was processed with a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and the image was finished with a contrast stretch. Note that there are several other galaxies in this field.

NGC1453, a galaxy in Eridanus, magnitude 11.5, dimensions 2'.0 x 1'.5, surface brightness is 12.5 mag/sq arcmin, and a distance of 170 million light years. This is a 54-minute integration (from one-minute exposures) shot between 8:24 and 9:45 p.m. the evening of January 25. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. The resulting image was processed with a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and the image was finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC1817, an open cluster in Taurus, magnitude 7.7, diameter 16', a distance of 5,700 light years, and an age of 79 million years. This is a 13-minute integration (from one-minute exposures) shot between 9:49 and 10:10 p.m. the evening of January 25. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. The resulting image was finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC2749, a galaxy in Cancer, magnitude 11.8, dimensions 1'.8 x 1'.7, surface brightness is 13.4 mag/sq arcmin, and a distance of 180 million light years. (NGC2749 is the bright elliptical galaxy on the right.) At bottom center is NGC2751, mag 15.0, 54" x 30", sb 14.2. And to the left is the edge-one galaxy NGC2752, mag 13.7, 1'.8 x 0'.4, sb 14.7. This is a 49-minute integration (from one-minute exposures) shot between 10:24 and 11:26 p.m. the evening of January 25. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. The resulting image was processed with a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and the image was finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC2782, a galaxy in Lynx, magnitude 11.6, dimensions 4'.2 x 3'.2, surface brightness is 12.2 mag/sq arcmin, and a distance of 110 million light years. Note the extensive arm to the left of the core, past the bright star. This is a 37- minute integration (from one-minute exposures) shot between 11:29 and 12:40 a.m. the morning of January 26. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. The resulting image was processed with a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and the image was finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC3079, a galaxy in Ursa Major, magnitude 10.9, dimensions 8'.7 x 1'.6, surface brightness is 12.3 mag/sq arcmin, and a distance of 53 million light years. To the far right is PGC28990, mag 14.9, 42" x 18". This is a 49-minute integration (from one-minute exposures) shot between 12:45 and 2:10 a.m. the morning of January 26. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. The resulting image was processed with a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and the image was finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC3583, a galaxy in Ursa Major, magnitude 11.1, dimensions 2'.7 x 2'.0, surface brightness is 13.3 mag/sq arcmin, and a distance of 96 million light years. To the right and below is NGC3577, mag 13.4, 1'.6 x 1'.6, sb 15.4. This is a 50- minute integration (from one-minute exposures) shot between 2:16 and 3:28 a.m. the morning of January 26. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. The resulting image was processed with a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and the image was finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC3675, a galaxy in Ursa Major, magnitude 10.2, dimensions 6'.8 x 3'.5, surface brightness is 14.4 mag/sq arcmin, and a distance of 32 million light years. This is a 61-minute integration (from one-minute exposures) shot between 3:32 and 4:51 a.m. the morning of January 26. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. The resulting image was processed with a Digital Development filter (Kernel, low-pass, more) and the image was finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC5383, a galaxy in Canes Venatici, magnitude 11.4, dimensions 3'.5 x 2'.4, surface brightness is 13.2 mag/sq arcmin, and a distance of 100 million light years. Below is PGC49624, mag 15.2, 1'.1 x 1'.0. This is a 60-minute integration (from one-minute exposures) shot between 4:56 and 6:11 a.m. the morning of January 26. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. The resulting image was processed with a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and the image was finished with a contrast stretch.