| Imaging with a
101mm-diameter f/5.4 refractor at the
Blue Mountain Vista Observatory Richard Steinberg Drexel University Physics Dept. Philadelphia, PA
Images were obtained with the Orion StarShoot Pro Version 1, a cooled color CCD camera using the 24mm x 16mm, 6-megapixel Sony ICX413AQ SuperHAD chip. The pixel array consists of 3032x2016 pixels, each 7.8 microns square. All images were obtained remotely from Philadelphia during the nights of January 20 and 22, 2010. Plate scale is 2.95 arc-sec/pixel. North is up and East is left in all frames. Field of view of each image is 2.5 x 1.7 degrees. Image acquisition and processing was performed with MaxIm DL, v5.07. The typical sky darkness reading during the imaging was 20.1-20.7 mag/sq arc-sec, corresponding to a naked eye limiting magnitude of approximately 6.0.
IMAGES
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Televue NP101 refractor, installed on January 20, 2010 in a roll-off
roof structure at the Blue Mountain
Vista Observatory (Frank Colosimo, director), New Ringgold, Schuylkill
County, PA (about 85 miles NW of Philadelphia). The four-inch APO refractor
is mounted on a Paramount ME equatorial mount with capability of remote
operation over the internet. Remote focusing uses a stepper motor-driven
2.5" ID Moonlite CFL focuser. Telescope control is via TheSky6. Camera
control uses MaxIm DL, v5.07. On the left is astronomer D. d'Egidio (DVAA), while on the right is Dr. R. Steinberg (Drexel University Physics Dept.)
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Rosette nebula in Monoceros, a
large circular H II region giving birth to the open cluster NGC2239 at
its center.
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The
Horsehead nebula, a dark nebula, B33, in Orion. Other prominent
objects are Alnitak (the southeasternmost of the three stars of Orion's
belt) and the Flame nebula (NGC 2024, near Alnitak).
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M3 - globular cluster in Canes
Venatici.
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M51 - interacting face-on
spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici.
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M81 and M82 - interacting
galaxies in Ursa Major.
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M87 - together with other
members of the Virgo galaxy cluster. Other prominent galaxies in the
frame are the interacting spiral NGC4438 and the elliptical galaxies M86
and M84. SkyMap Pro finder chart
for M87 region (plotted to mag 15).
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M97 - The Owl planetary nebula
together with M106, a nearly edge-on spiral galaxy, both in Ursa Major.
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M101 - Large spiral galaxy in
Ursa Major.
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NGC3628 + M66 + M65 - The Leo
Trio, a galaxy grouping in Leo.
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NGC4559 Spiral galaxy in
Coma Berenices.
NGC4559 + the dwarf planet Makemake mouseover identification of Makemake on two images separated by 49.4 hours. Makemake is a trans-Neptunian dwarf planet currently 52 AU from Earth and shining at mag 17.2. (Note the two satellite trails visible in one of the images.) Makemake is the name of a creator god of the Rapa Nui of Easter Island. The dwarf planet was originally known as (136472) 2005 FY9. Animation of motion of Makemake near NGC4559. Finder chart for Makemake near NGC4559 (SkyMap Pro).
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