Final

1999-06-01 01:47:02UT



This is a combination of 5 images, each of 60 seconds The images were taken with a Pictor 1616 attached to an Meade 10" F/2 telescope. The exposures were unguided. Each of the images was corrected with a dark frame and a flat field. The images were then specially processed to remove a bilinear brightness variation. The images were then processed by creating a smoothed version of each image, subtracting 2000 counts from each pixel, and then subtracting the resulting image from the original. The five resulting images were then added to create this image which was then median filtered and logarithmically stretched.

There is a bright star just above center. This is an 8.4 magnitude star labeled V791 by Guide (version 7.0). Below and just to the right of it are a couple of stars which mark the center of Omega Centauri.

This picture was taken from Magnolia, Massachusetts (just west of Gloucester) at latitude 42 degrees 34 minutes. Without refraction, Omega Centauri never gets above the horizon. The refraction this evening was particularly strong and the land and lights at the bottom of the image are 47 miles away. We were about 20 feet above sea level right at the shoreline.

So while the image is not one of the better images I have taken, this is a notable image because I think it is the image of Omega Centauri taken furthest north.

My partner in this effort was John Gall, who had the idea to try and bag this object. This image is a follow up to an image we took last year from the same location.