Observation Log - April 13, 2000 - Tinton Falls, NJ

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Abell 2065, (175K), a galaxy supercluster in Corona Borealis, members' magnitudes 15 and higher. This is a composite image created from 71 exposures totaling 87 minutes, all taken between 3:24 a.m. and 5:28 a.m. the morning of the 13th. Images were taken using the f/6.3 focal reducer, for an effective f/ratio of f/4. Images were processed with dark frame removal, flat frame, then compositing, MaxIm Digital Development (FFT low-pass hard), flatten background, and finally a contrast stretch. Please note that this image was enlarged 50% from the original size immediately after compositing.

This supercluster was featured in the May, 2000, issue of "Sky and Telescope" magazine on page 128, and is listed in the Webb Society Deep- Sky Observer's Handbook (Vol 5 Clusters of Galaxies), page 169. Abell 2065 is a huge cluster of hundreds of E- and S0-type galaxies. The red shifts of these galaxies have been measured at roughly 21,500 km/sec, implying a distance of 1.5 billion (with a B!) light years. This is definitely the most distant object I have imaged to date. I have supplied a copy of this image with the main stars marked for magnitude. I also numbered the six major galaxies that were described in the S&T article. They include 1) PGC 54875 Mag 15.9, 2)PGC 54876 Mag 15.5, 3) PGC 54084 Mag 16.1, 4) MCG +5-36-22 Mag 15.8, 5) PGC 54883 Mag 15.6, and 6) PGC 54891 Mag 15.8. With the exception of the relative handful of stars in this image, nearly every little speck of light you see is a galaxy.

David, Mark and anybody else that wants to spend a little time with the little fuzzies, the brightest star near the center of the field (mag 10.81) is at RA 15:22:18 DEC 27:42:30. If anyone can find a decent finder chart for the galaxy field, I would sure appreciate a copy!

NGC3810, a spiral galaxy in Leo, magnitude 10.8, diameter 4'.3. This is a composite image created from 17 exposures totaling 52 minutes, all taken between 9:30 p.m. and and 10:30 p.m. the evening of the 12th. Images were taken using the f/6.3 focal reducer, for an effective f/ratio of f/4. Images were processed with dark frame removal, flat frame, then compositing, MaxIm Digital Development (FFT low-pass hard), flatten background, and finally a contrast stretch.

M49, an elliptical galaxy in Virgo, magnitude 8.4, dimensions 10'.2 x 8'.3, distance 55 million l.y. This is a composite image created from 19 exposures totaling 57 minutes, all taken between 11:23 p.m. and 12:37 a.m. the night of April 12/13. Images were taken using the f/6.3 focal reducer, for an effective f/ratio of f/4. Images were processed with dark frame removal, flat frame, then compositing, MaxIm Digital Development (Kernel low-pass), Unsharp Mask (FFT low-pass hard), and finally a contrast stretch.

This image contains several dimmer galaxies, six of which I was able to identify using SkyMap Pro 6. Here is an annotated image showing those six galaxies.

NGC4449, an irregular galaxy in Canes Vanetici, magnitude 9.6, dimensions 6'.0 x 4'.5. This is a composite image created from 28 exposures totaling 57 minutes, all taken between 1:16 a.m. and 2:51 a.m. the morning of April 13. Images were taken using the f/6.3 focal reducer, for an effective f/ratio of f/4. Images were processed with dark frame removal, flat frame, then compositing, MaxIm Digital Development (FFT low-pass, mild), and finally a contrast stretch. This object shows a considerable amount of detail in the core, as brought out by this reprocessed image using a Digital Development filter (FFT low-pass, hard).