Jan. 4, 2009

Quick report on last night's observing from Narberth:

Equipment:

12" LX200R at 1910mm focal length (f/6.3) - ST8XME - AP1200
All subframes 1 minute unguided.

The setting 45% moon did not interfere very much with a fairly steady (FWHM
near 3 arc-sec) and dark (by local standards) sky (zenith mag =4.2).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abell 370 - distant galaxy cluster (Cetus) - 30 min (new) and 38 min
(Dec 9)
http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~steinberg/astro/abell/abell370-38+30x1min.jpg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arp 147 - strange pair of galaxies emerging from a recent collision
(Cetus) - 80 min
http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~steinberg/astro/arp/arp147-80x1min.jpg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comet T2 Cardinal (Cepheus) - 8 x 4 min animation
http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~steinberg/astro/solar_system/comet_t2_cardinal.gif
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flame nebula in Orion (nr Alnitak)
http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~steinberg/astro/nebulae/flame_nebula-12x1min-ddp.jpg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Groombridge 34 (Andromeda) - nearby double star - 18 min
http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~steinberg/astro/stars/groombridge34_18x1min_new.jpg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Horsehead nebula (Orion) - 60 min
http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~steinberg/astro/nebulae/hh-60x1min.jpg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
M32 - satellite of Andromeda galaxy - 42 min
http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~steinberg/astro/messier/m32-42x1min.jpg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
M78 - nebula in Orion - 25 min
http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~steinberg/astro/messier/m78-25x1min.jpg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am now using MaxIm version 5.03 for data processing. This recently
released upgrade has cut my processing time in half. I am now optimistic
about processing the backload of images which has accumulated over the
past 6 months.

I would appreciate help from someone with web and astronomy skills to
help me set up a web site to better organize these images.

Thanks and regards,
Dick