Observation Log - December 22, 2001

Observation Log - December 22, 2001 - Tinton Falls, NJ

Not a great night tonight. Too breezy, with winds in the 10-20 mph range. Temperature at dawn was 27F, but there was no frost and no dew. Configuration tonight on the 12" LX200 was Kendrick heater but no dew cap/Crayford/f3.3 reducer/T-adapter/MX516 camera, right-side up with no filters. I left off the dew shield tonight as no dew was forecast, and I wanted to reduce the cross- section of the telescope to reduce wind effects on the photos.

Tonight's first image is NGC474, a galaxy in Pisces, magnitude 11.5, dimensions 6'.1 x 5'.0, surface brightness is 13.1 mags/sq arcmin. To the right is NGC470, mag 11.8, 2'.9 x 1'.7, 13.0 surface brightness. This image was made from 26 one-minute exposures taken between 5:46 and 6:33 pm, the evening of December 21, 2001. The image was processed with just an FFT (low-pass, mild), and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version of the same image resampled to double the image scale.

The next image is NGC533, a galaxy in Cetus, magnitude 11.4, dimensions 3'.9 x 2'.7, surface brightness is 13.5 mags/sq arcmin. This image was made from 21 one-minute exposures taken between 6:38 and 7:10 pm, the evening of December 21, 2001. The image was processed with a Digital Development filter (Kernel, low-pass, more), and an FFT (low-pass, mild) and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version resampled to double the scale.

Next is NGC521, a galaxy in Cetus, magnitude 11.7, dimensions 3'.3 x 3'.0, surface brightness is 13.5 mags/sq arcmin. This image was made from 46 one-minute exposures taken between 7:13 and 8:08 pm, the evening of December 21. The image was processed with a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, medium), and an FFT (low-pass, mild) and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version resampled to double the scale.

This is NGC1055, a galaxy in Cetus, magnitude 10.6, dimensions 7'.6 x 3'.0, surface brightness is 13.1 mags/sq arcmin. This image was made from 19 one-minute exposures taken between 10:33 and 10:55 pm, the evening of December 21. (This short exposure doesn't do justice to this object!) The image was processed with a Digital Development filter (Kernel, low-pass), and a local adaptive filter (9/5) and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version resampled to double the scale.

This is NGC1633, a galaxy in Taurus, magnitude 13.5, dimensions 1'.0 x 0'.9, surface brightness is 14.5 mags/sq arcmin. Below is NGC1634, mag 14.1, 24" x 18", sb=14.3. This image was made from 24 one-minute exposures taken between 11:03 and 11:32 pm, the evening of December 21. The image was processed with a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, hard), and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version resampled to double the scale.

This is NGC1762, a galaxy in Orion, magnitude 12.6, dimensions 1'.7 x 1'.1, surface brightness is 12.6 mags/sq arcmin. This image was made from 25 one-minute exposures taken between 11:38 and 12:10 am, the morning of December 22. The image was processed with a gradient filter, then a Digital Development filter (Kernel, low-pass), and a local adaptive filter (9/5), then finished with a contrast stretch. Here is a resampled version at twice the image scale.

Next up is NGC1587, a galaxy in Taurus, magnitude 11.7, dimensions 1'.7 x 1'.4, surface brightness is 12.4 mags/sq arcmin. To the left is NGC1588, mag 12.9, 1'.4 x 0'.8, sb=12.3. This image was made from 25 one-minute exposures taken between 12:15 and 12:45 am, the morning of December 22. The image was processed to flatten the background, then a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, hard), and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is a resampled version at twice the image scale.

Here is NGC2389, a galaxy in Gemini, magnitude 12.9, dimensions 2'.0 x 1'.4, surface brightness is 12.9 mags/sq arcmin. Below and right is NGC2388, mag 13.7, 1'.0 x 0'.6, sb=14.5. And to the far right is NGC2385, mag 15.0, 48" x 24", sb=13.7. This image was made from 45 one-minute exposures taken between 12:51 and 1:44 am, the morning of December 22. The image was processed to remove a gradient, and to flatten the background, then a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, medium), and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is a resampled version at twice the image scale.

Next is NGC2481, a galaxy in Gemini, magnitude 12.9, dimensions 1'.4 x 0'.5, surface brightness is 14.1 mags/sq arcmin. Above and right is NGC2480, mag 13.7, 1'.3 x 0'.7, sb=14.6. This image was made from 15 one-minute exposures taken between 1:48 and 2:13 am, the morning of December 22. The image was processed to remove a gradient, then a Digital Development filter (FFT, low-pass, medium), and finished with a contrast stretch. Here is a resampled version at twice the image scale.

This image is NGC2649, a galaxy in Lynx, magnitude 12.3, dimensions 1'.5 x 1'.4, surface brightness is 13.7 mags/sq arcmin. The distance to this galaxy is given as 180 million light years. This image was made from 70 one-minute exposures taken between 2:33 and 4:14 am, the morning of December 22. The image was processed to remove a gradient, and to flatten the background. Then a Digital Development filter (Kernel, low-pass, more), and a local adaptive filter (9/5), then finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version resampled to double the image scale.

The final object of the night is NGC3953, a galaxy in Ursa Major, magnitude 10.1, dimensions 6'.9 x 3'.6, surface brightness is 12.5 mags/sq arcmin. The distance to this galaxy is given as 45 million light years. This image was made from 70 one-minute exposures taken between 4:20 and 6:15 am, the morning of December 22. The image was processed with a Digital Development filter (Kernel, low-pass, more), and a local adaptive filter (radius 9, contrast 5%), then finished with a contrast stretch. Here is another version resampled to double the image scale.