Assesment of Basic Image

This is the initial basic image, and I have not altered anything including contrast/brightness. I took measurements of the pixel counts of various locations.

Typical Pixel Counts

• Background Sky (yellow boxes) - I took three samples of the background sky and took the average to determine the pixel count. Three Boxes = 3141.31, 3171.170 and 3129.174 Average Background pixel count = 3147.23
• Faintest Observable Region (green square) - I did pixel counts around the galaxy to see where the faintest observable region seemed to be, and I determined this section was a good representitive of the average faintest observable regions. Average pixel count = 3258.18
• Brightest Region of the Object (purple circle) - I determined that the brightest region of the object was the core of the galaxy. Average pixel count = 12101.57
• Peak Pixel value of faintest stellar object (light blue circle)- I took pixel counts of various dim stars throughout the image and determined this one was the faintest stellar object. Average pixel count = 3321.96 The magnitude of this object is 11.75
• Peak Pixel value of brightest stellar object (dark blue circle) -I determined this star to be the brightest stellar object in the picture, by measuring the pixel values of all the brightest stars in the image. Average pixel count = 11116.29. The magnitude of this object is 18.02.

This image has fairly good image quality and sharpness considering the problems we had with the guiding camera not working. The noise level in the background sky seems to be typical of an image that would be taken with our equipment.

Comparison With DSS Image

The above images are of M51. The images on the left was taken by the Digital Sky Survey, and the one on the right is our image of M51 collected at the Glenlea Obervatory. It is clear to see that the DSS image has much more clarity and you are able to see more detail throughout the image. In the DSS image you can clearly see the core of the galaxy, and some beautiful detail in the spiral arms. The detector wavelength used on the DSS images shows very good resolution of the detail in the galaxy. Both images have the same shape, and it is clear that the images are of the same object. Our image is a good image for the quality of the equipment we have at the Glenlea Observatory. Even though our image was taken unguided, it did not seem to lessen the quality of our image. The DSS image and our images are very similar, and in the minimal time that has elapsed between them that is to be expected.

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