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The image below is a stack of the best five (out of seven), unfiltered, two-minute CCD images taken by Alex Cruz and myself at the George Observatory, using the Fort Bend Astronomy Club's 18-inch (46 cm) f/4.5 reflector and Rice University's ST-9e camera (on generous loan). The image is of the central part of the error "diamond" (18h 8m 42s, -2d 59', 38"). The mid-point of the image stack 02:58:00 UT, 19 October, 2000. The image is roughly 18 arcminutes on a side. North is up, East is to the left.
I processed the images using MaxIm DL. The images were dark subtracted and flat fielded. A "Flatten background" was then applied. An attempt was made to remove hot/cold pixels in the kernel option before stack, but some have made it through, giving rise to a streaky grain.
The bright, burned-out star in the upper center is the 6th magnitude star PPM 142115.
The frame is full of stars because the burst occurred near the Milky Way. Our teammates will attempt to re-image the field a day later. Blinking the images may allow a fading source to be detected.
