Abell 397, Comparison of 1x1 and 2x2 Binning   HOME INDEX BACK NEXT

I took images of Abell 397 with 1x1 and 2x2 bin sizes to compare the results. Subsets of the individual exposures were used to obtain images of the central part of the galaxy cluster at integration times of 4 minutes, 20 minutes, and 80 minutes. (I also took more exposures with 1x1 binning for a total time of 270 minutes.) Naturally, the longer exposures produced better results, although the difference between 80 minutes and 270 minutes is not huge. There are diminishing returns from using very long integration times. Comparing the 1x1 versus 2x2 binning modes, I can detect no appreciable differences at equivalent integration times. My conclusion is that 2x2 binning does not help reduce total exposure times to get images of comparable quality.