Observation Log - May 8, 2000 - Tinton Falls, NJ

Links to the Image Index or Home Page.

Note: This was a poor night for astrophotography, with light clouds passing by all night long. This created a strong background in most images, and damaged the signal-to-noise ratio in tonight's photos.

NGC3158, a galaxy in Leo Minor, magnitude 11.9, dimensions 2'.3 x 2'.2. This composite was created from 19 images taken between 10:02 and 11:10 p.m. the evening of the 7th, for a total integration time of 38 minutes. Equipment was the 10" Meade LX200 with an f/6.3 focal reducer producing a focal ratio of f/4. Processing included dark frame subtraction, flat frames, then compositing using MaxIm, unsharp mask (kernel, low-pass), flatten background, and finally a contrast stretch .There are many other galaxies in this photograph. Click here to see a key to the brightest ones. They include NGC 3163 (m13.3, 1'.1 x 1'.1), NGC 3161 (m13.5, 48"x30"), NGC 3159 (m13.6, 48"x42"), NGC 3150 (m15.4, 54"x36"), PGC 29844 (12"x6"), PGC 29842 (30"x12"), and PGC 29818(24"x18"). Several other galaxies can be seen in the image, but they are not listed in my SkyMap Pro 6 software.

NGC4559, a galaxy in Coma Berenices, magnitude 9.9, diameter 10'.5. This composite was created from 13 images taken between 11:21 and 11:55 p.m. the evening of the 7th, for a total integration time of 23 minutes. Equipment was the 10" Meade LX200 with an f/6.3 focal reducer producing a focal ratio of f/4. Processing included dark frame subtraction, flat frames, then compositing using MaxIm, then an unsharp mask (kernel low-pass), flatten background, and finally a contrast stretch.