Observation Log - September 6, 2001

Observation Log - September 6, 2001 - Tinton Falls, NJ

An incredibly good night, even with the bright moon in the sky most of the time. Temperature was low, finishing at 50F at dawn. The night brought a lot of dew, but I used the dew shield and ran the heater, and had no problems. The 'scope was tracking like a dream, and I took 2-minute exposures all night. I even tried a 3-minute and a 5-minute on M27 for fun, and was impressed by the result! Configuration tonight on the 12" LX200 was: Crayford/f3.3 reducer/T-adapter/MX516 camera with no IR filter. Took darks and flats at dawn... didn't really get as many darks as I would like, but with 2-minute exposures, they should work okay.

Took a couple of small, faint galaxies at the beginning, a bunch of open clusters in CASS, and a VERY faint planetary. All in all, a very interesting night!

This is M27, the Dumbbell Nebula, a planetary nebula in Vulpecula. Also known as PK60-3.1, this object is magnitude 7.3, with dimensions of 8' x 4'. Age is given as 20,000 years. The central star is magnitude 13.9. This image was composited from two-minute exposures for a total integration time of 14 minutes. The images were taken between 10:22 and 10:48 p.m. the evening of September 5, 2001. The image was calibrated and aligned in MaxIm, using a median composite instead of a sum. The resulting composite image was processed with a Development filter (FFT, low-pass, hard) and an unsharp mask (FFT, low-pass, hard.) The image was finished with a contrast stretch. This is my best effort to date on M27. Here is another version of this same image, resampled to twice the image scale to show a little more detail.

Here is NGC7080, a galaxy in Vulpecula, magnitude 12.3, dimensions of 1'.8 x 1'.7, surface brightness is 14.0 mags/sq arcmin. This image was composited from two-minute exposures for a total integration time of 76 minutes. The images were taken between 10:55 and 12:26 a.m. the morning of September 6, 2001. The image was calibrated and aligned in MaxIm, using a median composite instead of a sum. The resulting composite image was flattened, then processed with a Development filter (FFT, low- pass, hard). The image was finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version of this same image, resampled to twice the image scale.

Here is NGC7137, a galaxy in Pegasus, magnitude 12.4, dimensions of 1'.6 x 1'.4, surface brightness is 12.8 mags/sq arcmin. This image was composited from two-minute exposures for a total integration time of 58 minutes. The images were taken between 12:32 and 1:33 a.m. the morning of September 6, 2001. The image was calibrated and aligned in MaxIm, using a sum composite. The resulting composite image was flattened, then processed with a Development filter (FFT, low-pass, hard). The image was finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version of this same image, resampled to twice the image scale.

Here is NGC659, an open cluster in Cassiopeia, magnitude 6.5, diameter 5'. This image was composited from two-minute exposures for a total integration time of 22 minutes. The images were taken between 1:57 and 2:20 a.m. the morning of September 6, 2001. The image was calibrated and aligned in MaxIm, using a sum composite. The resulting composite image was flattened, and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version of this same image, resampled to twice the image scale.

Here is IC166, an open cluster in Cassiopeia, magnitude 11.7, diameter 7'. This image was composited from two-minute exposures for a total integration time of 24 minutes. The images were taken between 2:28 and 2:55 a.m. the morning of September 6, 2001. The image was calibrated and aligned in MaxIm, using a median composite. The resulting composite image was flattened, and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version of this same image, resampled to twice the image scale.

Here is NGC381, an open cluster in Cassiopeia, magnitude 9.3, diameter 6'. This image was composited from two-minute exposures for a total integration time of 22 minutes. The images were taken between 3:19 and 3:42 a.m. the morning of September 6, 2001. The image was calibrated and aligned in MaxIm, using a median composite. The resulting composite image was flattened, and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version of this same image, resampled to twice the image scale.

Here is NGC366, an open cluster in Cassiopeia, magnitude 12.0, diameter 3'. This image was composited from two-minute exposures for a total integration time of 18 minutes. The images were taken between 3:52 and 4:10 a.m. the morning of September 6, 2001. The image was calibrated and aligned in MaxIm, using a median composite. The resulting composite image was flattened, and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version of this same image, resampled to twice the image scale.

Here is PK114- 4.1, a planetary nebula in Cassiopeia, magnitude 12.7, diameter 1'.6. This image was composited from two-minute exposures for a total integration time of 64 minutes. The images were taken between 4:21 and 5:30 a.m. the morning of September 6, 2001. The image was calibrated and aligned in MaxIm, using a median composite. The resulting composite image was flattened, the processed with a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, hard.) The it was finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version of this same image, resampled to twice the image scale. This is probably the faintest target object I've gone after. During the exposures, the planetary nebula could not be seen on any of the exposures. Only after compositing and enhancing was the nebula identifiable. This image is best in a darkened room. If you can't find the PN, it's slightly above center and quite faint.