Observation Log - Arpil 15, 2001 - Tinton Falls, NJ

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[NOTE: Temperature was 40F, no dew, and the breeze was up to 10 mph or a little less. The setup on the 12" Meade LX200 was the Crayford focuser/f3.3 reducer/1.25" visual back/ MX516 camera, and no IR blocking filter. I did several darks, biases and twilight flats at dawn after the session was over. Had a problem when I first set up. I couldn't get a "correct" looking image. Finally changed from a 15m camera cable to a 10m cable, and the problem went away. The 15m cable seems to work only when temperatures are near freezing. -GW]

NGC2874, a galaxy in Leo, magnitude 12.5, dimensions 2'.4 x 0'.8, surface brightness is 12.4 mag/sq arcmin. NGC2874 is on the bottom left of the trio of galaxies. To the right is NGC2872, mag 11.9, 1'.8 x 1'.7, sb is 12.2. The tiny galaxy above is NGC2873, mag 15.5, sb 13.5. The frames were shot between 9:02 and 9:58 p.m. the evening of April 14. This composite was made from 45 exposures for a total integration time of 45 minutes. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. I used a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and flattened the background. The image was finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC3414, a galaxy in Leo Minor, magnitude 11.0, dimensions 3'.0 x 2'.6, surface brightness is 11.6 mag/sq arcmin, and distance is 61 million light years. LEDA 93597 (mag 16.1, 30" x 26") is to the right and above at about the one o'clock position. The images were shot between 10:22 and 11:15 p.m. the evening of April 14. This composite was made from 44 exposures for a total integration time of 44 minutes. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. I used a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, medium) and finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC3504, a galaxy in Leo Minor, magnitude 11.0, dimensions 2'.5 x 2'.5, surface brightness is 11.6 mag/sq arcmin, and distance is 64 million light years. LEDA 93603 (mag 17.2, 18" x 8") is to the left and above at about the ten o'clock position. The images were shot between 11:19 and 12:12 a.m. the morning of April 15. This composite was made from 43 exposures for a total integration time of 43 minutes. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. I used a Digital Development filter (Kernel, low-pass) and an unsharp mask (FFT, low-pass, mild), and finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC3593, a galaxy in Leo, magnitude 10.9, dimensions 5'.2 x 2'.1, surface brightness is 12.4 mag/sq arcmin, and distance is 24 million light years. The images were shot between 12:17 and 1:11 a.m. the morning of April 15. This composite was made from 45 exposures for a total integration time of 45 minutes. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. I used a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, hard) and finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC4151, a galaxy in Canes Venatici, magnitude 10.8, dimensions 7'.0 x 6'.0, surface brightness is 10.3 mag/sq arcmin, and distance is 44 million light years. NGC4156 (mag 13.2, 1'.4 x 1'.3, sb 13.0) is to the left and above. The images were shot between 1:21 and 1:49 a.m. the morning of April 15. This composite was made from 15 exposures for a total integration time of 15 minutes. Exposures were cut short due to clouds. All images were processed in MaxIm with darks, flats and bias frames, then aligned and composited. I used a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, hard) and finished with a contrast stretch.