Observation Log - December 19, 2000 - Tinton Falls, NJ

Links to the Image Index or Home Page.

[NOTE: Temperature was about 24 degrees. Little wind early, none at all later. Sky started very clear, then clouds moved in after midnight. Configuration on the 12" LX200 is the Crayford focuser, f/3.3 reducer, 1.25" visual back, MX516 camera. I did not use the IR blocking filter tonight. -GW]

NGC157, a galaxy in Cetus, magnitude 10.4, dimensions 4'.0 x 3'.0, surface brightness is 13.7 mags/sq arcmin, and the distance is 76 million light years. The frames were shot between 7:25 and 8:50 p.m. the evening of December 18. This composite was made from 56 exposures for a total integration time of 56 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat- darks, then aligned and composited. Then I moved the image into MaxIm for a Digital Development filter (Kernel, low-pass) and flatten background. I finished with a contrast stretch.

M77, a galaxy in Cetus, magnitude 8.9, dimensions 9'.0 x 8'.0, and the distance is 52 million light years. The frames were shot between 8:56 and 10:05 p.m. the evening of December 18. This composite was made from 30 exposures for a total integration time of 60 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited. Then I moved the image into MaxIm for a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, mild) and flatten background. I finished with a contrast stretch.

NGC1090, a galaxy in Cetus, magnitude 11.8, dimensions 4'.0 x 2'.0, and the distance is 120 million light years. The frames were shot between 10:13 and 11:19 p.m. the evening of December 18. This composite was made from 28 exposures for a total integration time of 56 minutes. All images were processed in AstroArt with darks, flats and flat-darks, then aligned and composited. I used AstroArt for a mild unsharp mask, then I moved the image into MaxIm for a contrast stretch. The background level was pushed a little high on this image to bring out some of the faint stars and tiny galaxies that are present in the field.