ASTRO: NGC 7217

I almost forgot to process this image of NGC 7217 from last August.

Taken from the middle of Berlin with an 8" SCT at f/6.5, G11 mount, SXV-H9
camera, 21x5 minutes for Lum and 5 minutes each for RGB.

The picture can also be found at
http://ccd-astronomy.de/temp/7217colourgut.jpg

Stefan

Stefan Lilge wrote:

I almost forgot to process this image of NGC 7217 from last August.

Taken from the middle of Berlin with an 8" SCT at f/6.5, G11 mount, SXV-H9
camera, 21x5 minutes for Lum and 5 minutes each for RGB.

The picture can also be found at
http://ccd-astronomy.de/temp/7217colourgut.jpg

Stefan

That came out well. Now you'll have to see what the new 10" will show!

I'd planned for that one last fall then the clouds hit and I never got
it. Maybe next fall. Thought it looked on the POSS plates to have a
lot of blue star clouds in the arms. At least that's what my to-do list
has noted. Only see a hint of that in your shot but the color data is
limited. Or I got my eyes crossed and was looking at the wrong galaxy
on the POSS plates. I've done that before!

Nice to have company in the forgotten files club. I'm still finding
them but time is short this time of the year. As a retired tax guy I
find this time of the year you get unretired whether you want it or not.

I gotta learn to say no!

Getting caught up so maybe I'll have some processing time but then
there's the spring chores like dragging out the trees the snow felled
and cutting them up for 2009-10's firewood. Used more than normal this
year as it was so cloudy. I only heat with wood on the nights I can't
image -- that was most of them this year unfortunately.

Even when it looks clear it nails you. Perfect skies last night but no
sooner had I zeroed in on my first target than the guide star vanished.
Went out to look. Total overcast. 30 minutes later it was snowing.
Forecast was for a great night. Woke up to clear skies but forecast for
tonight is lousy again. Perfect through the full moon -- eclipse of course.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

That's a neat looking galaxy, nice job!

Stefan Lilge wrote:
I almost forgot to process this image of NGC 7217 from last August.

Taken from the middle of Berlin with an 8" SCT at f/6.5, G11 mount, SXV-H9
camera, 21x5 minutes for Lum and 5 minutes each for RGB.

The picture can also be found at
http://ccd-astronomy.de/temp/7217colourgut.jpg

Stefan




--
John N. Gretchen III
N5JNG NCS304
http://www.tisd.net/~jng3

"Stefan Lilge" wrote
...
I almost forgot to process this image of NGC 7217 from last August.......


Stefan,

Last August? That's not forgetting! Not getting to process an image that
was taken in 1995....... now that's forgetting!

Attached is an image taken way back in 1995!! A 10 minute exposure taken
with the old ST-6 camera thru the RC20. My notes say: "Re-do; poor seeing
and noise; go deeper for more detail". I have never gotten to it! Maybe
later this year.

George N

George, that was one year before I got my first CCD camera. Your image is
very good for those early days.
I have a complete collection of the magazine "CCD Astronomy" and looking at
those old images it is quite funny to see how much the standard of CCD
imaging has improved since the mid-90s.

Stefan

"George Normandin" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...

"Stefan Lilge" wrote
...
I almost forgot to process this image of NGC 7217 from last August.......


Stefan,

Last August? That's not forgetting! Not getting to process an image
that was taken in 1995....... now that's forgetting!

Attached is an image taken way back in 1995!! A 10 minute exposure
taken with the old ST-6 camera thru the RC20. My notes say: "Re-do; poor
seeing and noise; go deeper for more detail". I have never gotten to it!
Maybe later this year.

George N

"Stefan Lilge" wrot
....
George, that was one year before I got my first CCD camera. Your image is
very good for those early days.
I have a complete collection of the magazine "CCD Astronomy" and looking
at those old images it is quite funny to see how much the standard of CCD
imaging has improved since the mid-90s.


Stefan,

I have a complete copy of "CCD Astronomy" also! I liked that magazine
except for the fact that all of the authors were also the owners of the
companies selling CCD cameras and software.

I had considered getting an ST-4 for imaging when they first came out,
but it was just too primitive compared to film. In early 1993 Kopernik
purchased one of the first ST-6's sold - for something like $3,500. What
info that was available back then on CCD'ing was something like "there's no
on/off switch", and that was about all of the knowledge we started with in
March 1993!! Considering the small chip size and the giant pixels, the ST-6
is quite a camera. It has adjustable anti-blooming (including turning it
off) a super-deep well (you can expose for a very long time without
overexposing) and you can't kill it. In fact, it still works!! I could get a
lot out of the several thousand images I took with that camera if I went
back and re-processed them with modern methods. However, there's too much
going on with the new stuff. We just asked the people who donated the RC20
for $30,000 to improve it, some of which would go for a new camera. We shall
see if they are willing.......

George N

George Normandin wrote:

"Stefan Lilge" wrot
...

George, that was one year before I got my first CCD camera. Your image is
very good for those early days.
I have a complete collection of the magazine "CCD Astronomy" and looking
at those old images it is quite funny to see how much the standard of CCD
imaging has improved since the mid-90s.



Stefan,

I have a complete copy of "CCD Astronomy" also! I liked that magazine
except for the fact that all of the authors were also the owners of the
companies selling CCD cameras and software.

I had considered getting an ST-4 for imaging when they first came out,
but it was just too primitive compared to film. In early 1993 Kopernik
purchased one of the first ST-6's sold - for something like $3,500. What
info that was available back then on CCD'ing was something like "there's no
on/off switch", and that was about all of the knowledge we started with in
March 1993!! Considering the small chip size and the giant pixels, the ST-6
is quite a camera. It has adjustable anti-blooming (including turning it
off) a super-deep well (you can expose for a very long time without
overexposing) and you can't kill it. In fact, it still works!! I could get a
lot out of the several thousand images I took with that camera if I went
back and re-processed them with modern methods. However, there's too much
going on with the new stuff. We just asked the people who donated the RC20
for $30,000 to improve it, some of which would go for a new camera. We shall
see if they are willing.......

George N

I got a ST-4 when they were first announced for guiding. I did try it
for imaging and quickly went back to 2415. I still have the ST-4 but
not sure where the driver disks are and I have no computer with 5.25"
floppy drives to read them anyway. Do they even work on today's
computers? I do though still have the DOS laptop it ran on though the
unit always guided best using its own "box" rather than through a
computer. Couldn't really see what it was doing but it worked. Maybe a
museum wants it now. About all its good for.

A while back there were real problems keeping Kopernik running. Those
have been resolved?

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

"Rick Johnson" wrote

I got a ST-4 when they were first announced for guiding. I did try it for
imaging and quickly went back to 2415. I still have the ST-4 but not sure
where the driver disks are and I have no computer with 5.25" floppy drives
to read them anyway. Do they even work on today's computers? I do though
still have the DOS laptop it ran on though the unit always guided best
using its own "box" rather than through a computer. Couldn't really see
what it was doing but it worked. Maybe a museum wants it now. About all
its good for.

Rick,

You can download a lot of ST-4 software from the SBIG website and I think
that CCDops will control it. About a year ago I tried to get a USB-to-serial
converter to work on my current laptop in order to use the ST-4 under PC
control (there are certain advantages), but I could never get it to work. I
have an old IBM laptop with WIN95 on it that will control the ST-4, but I
hate to deal with two PCs, at least in the field.

I see ST-4s commonly going on A'mart for around $450, so if you don't use
yours, there's a source of cash for you!


A while back there were real problems keeping Kopernik running. Those
have been resolved?


So far it's working out well enough to pay the utilities, etc. Some 'pork'
provided by our local NYS legislators helped in a big way, but that went
into about 20 high-end PCs and a network, not telescope stuff. Since the
state budget is in poor shape, I doubt that there will be much additional $$
from that source. We're working the local philanthropies now....... we shall
see...... but things are looking much better now than a year ago.

George N