Hi Paul,
>... Incidentally, in making the labeled version, I had to check multiple
references because of some conflicting positions -- in the process, I
verified that the >Coma/Virgo cluster charts in the Spring "Night Sky
Observer's Guide" (specifically page 94, Volume 2) have a number of
mis-named NGC and IC galaxies. >The labels on the image are as correct as I
can be sure of, verified through The Sky and SkyMap Pro along with some
Palomar Sky Survey images from the >web. The NSOG were generated with a
version of MegaStar (it doesn't say which one), which leads me to believe
that MegaStar must also have some mis->named galaxies in the region.
I've found the databases in "The Sky" and other commercial software to have
numerous errors. I don't rely on them for locating or identifying galaxies,
especially the fainter ones. I use the NED website,
http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/, and either do a "Near Name" or "Near
Position" search. It can be tedious, but using the data, I create a text
file that I can import into "The Sky". I've even found some errors in the
NED database. In those cases, I went to the some of the more recent research
papers. But in an area like this, I would expect the NED to have current
data.
>I'm going to make the image negative (makes it easier to discern really
faint stuff) and try to chase down some of the really faint galaxies in the
image. I'll post >up that version later if anyone's interested.
I find that approach works well. I invert the image in Photoshop, apply the
usual imager's tricks to improve contrast, and label.
Albert