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CCD Images - Session 81 (2004-12-28)

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CCD Session S00081
Bullet Notes from CCD Session
Bullet Comet - C/2004 Q2 (Machholz)
Bullet 4U 0142+615 & 1E 2259+586 - Anomalous X-ray pulsers (AXP's)
Bullet NGC 1981 - Open Cluster
Bullet NGC 1977 - Open Cluster with Nebulosity
Bullet NGC 2024 - Nebula (Flame Nebula)
Bullet Moon
Bullet M44 - Open Cluster (Beehive Cluster)
Bullet M97 - Planetary Nebula (Owl Nebula)
Bullet M61 - Spiral Galaxy
Bullet M94 - Spiral Galaxy
Bullet M13 - Globular Cluster

Notes (S00081)

- 6.1/2 hour imaging session was with a focal reducer bringing 8" f/10 LX200 to f/7. 
- Images were recorded with ST7 CCD camera. Filter Wheel with C filters
- Session was operated mainly under remote control
- More notes (including investigating into Flat Frame Components and use of Night Sky Flats)


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Comet - C/2004 Q2 (Machholz)

Comet C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) (passing through Taurus)
Image
CCD Colour Composite Image
Blue (av 3 x 60s B Filter, 165%), Green (av 3 x 30s V Filter,115%), Red (av 3 x 30s R Filter, 100%) 
2004-12-28 23:33 h UT (#81058-69)
Comet C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) in star field of  1° 10' x 0° 55'
Coma is around 14 arc min diameter, but no sign of any tail is recorded.
Image
CCD Image Mosaic (30 frames)
60 sec exposure,  C Filter
2004-12-28  22:38 h to 23:25h UT (#81023-56)
(Due to motion of comet between frames, a minor amount of blending 
was required at boundaries of certain frames)
[ Full Size Image ]
 
Comet C/2004 Q2 compared with star of similar brightness
Image 
 
Comet C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) (passing through Taurus)
Image
CCD Image
2 min exposure,  C Filter
2004-12-28 22:14 h UT (#81022)

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4U 0142+615 & 1E 2259+586 - Anomalous X-ray pulsers (AXP's) 

Anomalous X-ray pulsers (AXPs) have recently been described by Robert Duncan in Sky & Telescope, January 2005 (pp 34-41). Many of them could be Magnetars - neutron stars (or pulsars) with a very strong magnetic fields. AXP's  are so faint in visible light that normally only the world's largest telescopes have any chance to detect them. However these stars probably brighten dramatically during intense gamma-ray flares and may become visible to amateur astronomers with moderate equipment.  The two nearest known AXP's,  4U 0142+615 and  1E 2259+586 (both lying in Cassiopeia) are potential targets for regular observation.    Robert Duncan estimates that the potential peak brightness could reach 12th Magnitude, but rapidly fall to 15th mag after 5 minutes and 18th mag after 15 minutes.  The bad news is that giant flares are likely to be rare (one per 10 to 100 years for a given AXP), however the frequency of optical flares is poorly understood. Whilst considerable luck would probably be required to witness a flare,  simply providing information on the upper limits on the visible light flux during smaller flares might be scientifically useful.

With the possibility of making a contribution here, I may be able to take occasional images over the position of these two stars.  My existing scripts allow me to take pictures and then automatically search of visible objects at the stars locations and estimate magnitude, so that if a flare is in progress, further images can be taken.   With this objective I took a series of baseline images of 4U 0142+615 and 1E 2259+586.  No object was detected at either location down to 15th/16th Magnitude (realtime log file)

Base line images for the star field covering the AXP star 4U 0142+615 taken with C and R filters :

Star field for 4U 0142+615 area with C Filter
2 min exposure, magnitude limit +16.0 (Cassiopeia)
Image
CCD Image
2 min exposure,  C Filter
2004-12-29 00:43h UT (#81089)
 
Annotated star field for 4U 0142+615
Catalog position is marked by mauve circle,
No object can be seen at the centre of the circle, 
though a couple of Mag +15 stars can just be seen 
outside the circumference of the circle.
Image
CCD Image as above
 
Star field in R Band
30 sec exposure, magnitude limit +14.2
Image
CCD Image
30 sec exposure,  R Filter
2004-12-29 00:45h UT (#81090)

 

Base line images for the star field covering the AXP star 1E 2259+586 taken with C and R filters :

Star field for 1E 2259+586 area with C Filter
2 min exposure, magnitude limit +15.5 (Cassiopeia)
Image
CCD Image
2 min exposure,  C Filter
2004-12-29 00:51h UT (#81094)
 
Annotated star field for 1E 2259+586 area
Catalog position, +/- 2", is marked by mauve circle,
No object can be seen at the centre of the circle, 
though a number of faint Mag+15 stars can just be seen 
around the inner circumference of the circle.
Image
CCD Image as above
 
Star field in R Band
30 sec exposure, magnitude limit +14.2
Image
CCD Image
30 sec exposure,  R Filter
2004-12-29 00:49h UT (#81093)

Internet Links 
    4U 0142+61 (gamma.mpe-garching) 
  

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NGC 1981 Open Cluster 

NGC 1981 (Orion)  
Image
CCD Image 
20 sec exposure,  C Filter
2004-12-29  01:03 h UT (#81096-106)
[Larger Size]

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NGC 1977 - Open Cluster with Nebulosity

NGC 1977 (Orion)  
Image
CCD Image 
30 sec exposure,  C Filter
2004-12-29  01:03 h UT (#81108)

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NGC 2024 - Nebula (Flame Nebula)

NGC 2024 (Orion) 
Bright Star is Alnitak, Mag +1.8 
Image
CCD Image Mosaic (6 frames)
2 min exposure, C Filter (x0.5 size reduction)
2004-12-29 01:30 h UT (#81125-30)
(Larger Size)

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Moon

Moon (94.6% phase)
Image 
CCD Mosaic of 12 frames, 0.11s exposure, B filter
2004-09-29  01:58h UT (#81150-61)
Larger Size
 
Moon - comparison of mosaic image with equivalent mosaic from 4 months ago
Notice the change in apparent diameter and the relative positions of lunar features. 
Image
Left 
2004-08-31 (95.4% phase)
Distance From Earth : 378,430 km
Apparent Diameter 31' 35" (TheSky)
( My Measure  : 32' 02" )
Right
2004-12-29 (94.6% phase) 
Distance From Earth : 404,740 km
Apparent Diameter 29' 31" (TheSky)
(My Measure : 29' 48")
(Larger Size)
Moon - Grimaldi /Tycho / Copernicus Region
Comparison of mosaic image with equivalent mosaic from 4 months ago. 
Image

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M44 - Open Cluster (Beehive Cluster)

M44 (Cancer)  
Image
CCD Image Mosaic (35 Frames)
10 sec exposure,  C Filter
2004-12-29 02:50 h UT (02:42 to 02:58 h) (#81247-51)
(Full Size)

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M97 - Planetary Nebula (Owl Nebula)

M97 (Ursa Major)  
Image
CCD Image
5 x 2 min (average combine),  C Filter
2004-12-29 03:09 h UT (#81247-51)

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M61 - Spiral Galaxy

M61 (Virgo)
Image
CCD Image
7 x 60s exposure (average combine), C Filter
2004-12-29 03:38 h UT (#81263-69)
(Notes on image reduction using 
Smoothed Night Sky Flat
)

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M94 - Spiral Galaxy

M94 (Canes Venatici)
Image
CCD Image
3 x 60s exposure (median combine), C Filter
2004-12-29 03:54 h UT (#81277-79)
(Notes on image reduction using 
Smoothed Night Sky Flat
)

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M13 - Globular Cluster

M13 (Hercules)
Image
CCD Image
3 x 60s exposure (median combine), C Filter
2004-12-29 04:06 h UT (#81285-87)

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This Web Page: CCD Images - Session 81 (2004-12-28)
Last Updated : 2015-05-16
Site Owner : David Richards
Home Page : David's Astronomy Web Site