NGC 7331 and surrounding galaxies
Characteristics:
Magnitude: 9.69
Size: about 10'
Distance: 46 million light years
RA: 22h 37m 06s
Dec: 34 degrees 25' 00"
Description:
NGC 7331 is a beautiful spiral galaxy
located in the constellation Pegasus. It was discovered in the
mid 1850s by Lord Rosse, who also appreciated the spiral structure of
M51. This field of view shows several galaxies
in addition to NGC
7331.
Photographic Details:
Date: October 12, 2004 (luminance); October 14, 2004 (RGB).
Scope: Takahashi Epsilon 250mm aperture,
F/3.8 astrograph (850mm focal length) mounted on a Paramount GT1100ME
mount, located in an observatory near Mahill, New Mexico. I
accomplished scope/autoguider set up and image acquisition by remote
control over the internet from my home in Needham, MA. A zip file
of the raw subexposures was downloaded after completion of the session,
ready for processing. Scope time was rented through Rent-A-Scope.
Camera and autoguider: ST-8XE CCD camera (NABG).
Filter: Custom Scientific Clear, R, G, B filter set.
Exposures: Luminance: 78' total (12 x 4' plus 6 x 5'),
unbinned. RGB: 3 x 4' each for R, G, and B, unbinned.
Conditions: Clear skies in New Mexico. Cloudy in Massachusetts.
Post-processing: Blooms were
removed using Ron Wodaski's DeBloomer plug-in for Maxim. All images
were then dark, bias, and flat frame calibrated. Alignment
done in Registar (images were from different nights, and with different
orientation due to meridian flip).
Sigma
combined using RC Sigma Reject plug-in for Maxim. DDP performed
in ImagesPlus
(IP). Subsequent
processing including levels and curves adjustments in Photoshop CS (16
bit format).
Please
note: Graphics on this website
may not be reproduced without author permission.
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