Star Clusters
M56 - Globular Cluster in Lyra - LUM
Orientation: North is LEFT - Distance: 32,900 light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 08/30/2008
Conditions: Seeing Good. Transparency Good. Stable skies. Temp ~60 degrees F.
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x -Calibrate, Align, Sigma Reject Combine, Linear DDP Stretch, unsharp mask.
Comment:
A nice little globular in the summer triangle. This is near the milky way band unlike M13, which is in Hercules.
No Bias. No Darks. No flats. Star2000 self guided.
Total Exposures: 40 minutes
Lum 40 min Bin 1x1
M13 - Globular Cluster in Hercules - L-RGB
Orientation: North is LEFT - Distance: 25,100 light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 05/30/2008
Conditions: Seeing Good to Very Good. Transparency Good to Very Good. Stable skies. Temp ~40 to ~50 degrees F.
Sand sprinkled on an Onyx table? I think not!
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x -Calibrate, Align, Sigma Reject Combine, Linear DDP Stretch, unsharp mask.
Comment:
Bias and Darks were used. No flats. Star2000 self guided.
M13 is probably the most spectacular globular visible in the Northern Hemisphere. It is dwarfed only by the gigantic Omega Centauri which unfortunately is below horizon for me year round. I was pleasantly surprised with the results of this image. Color balance was pretty good, and focus was excellent.
Total Exposures: 99 minutes
Lum 24 min Bin 1x1 60s x24
RGB 75 min Bin 1x1 60s x19/25/31 each channel.
M3 - Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici
DATE: 04/15/2008
Orientation: North is LEFT - Distance: 33,900 light years
Image Size: 27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: 2.12
Conditions: Seeing Good. Transparency Good. Temp ~30 degrees F. Moon at about 75%, sky was rather bright.
Decription:
Population ~ half million stars. Absolute mag -8.9, or ~300,000 Earth Suns. High concentration of variable stars discovered. Very dense core. As seen, ~180 light years linear diameter. Farther from us than galactic center, it follows an excentric orbit within the galactic halo. Currently ~40,000 light years from galactic center. Contains a relatively high concentration of interesting Blue Straggler stars. Those which have had their outer layers stripped due to close passes with the dense core of the cluster.
Object name: M3 in Constellation of CVN
Other ID: Lorenzin NGC 5272
Magnitude: 6.0
Equatorial: RA: 13h 42m 36s Dec: +28°19'51"(current)
Size: 16.2 arcmin diameter
Object type: Globular Cluster
Optics: Meade 10" Lx200 EMC OTA
Mount: Losmandy G-11 with SkyWalker2
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX-716 USB
Exposure: 30sec x 28 (14 minutes), UNGUIDED.
Focal Length: F/3.3 (Optec NextGen Maxfield)
Binning: 1x1
Filters: NONE
Processing: MaximDL 4.x -AVGCombine&Align -Curves -Levels -LP Unsharp
Comment:
Some slight tracking error visible, but quite good considering no use of an autoguider. No manual corrections either. Only had 2 bad frames out of 30 with 30 second exposures. Quite good! Use of Darks, Flats and Bias calibration frames.
M44 - Open Cluster
*early low res test image*
Comment:
Mag: 3.1. This test shot is just the central core region of the cluster. It is quite large at 70x70. I will retake it in the future once I get a wide field refractor.
Scope: 10" LX200 EMC Classic
Mount: Modified Superwedge/Meade field tripod, roughly polar aligned.
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX-716 CCD
FR: Optec Maxfield Nextgen F3.3
Exposure: 10x10sec exposure unguided, stacked.
Processing: unsharp mask?
Software: AstroArt
M67 - Open Cluster
*early low res test image*
Comment:
Mag: 6.7. This test shot shows nearly the entire open cluster. It is 25x25 in size. Though considered open, it is rather compact. It looks more like a 'loose' globular. I'd like to get this in color.
Scope: 10" LX200 EMC Classic
Mount: Modified Superwedge/Meade field tripod, roughly polar aligned.
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX-716 CCD
FR: Optec Maxfield Nextgen F3.3
Exposure: 10x10sec exposures unguided, stacked.
Processing: unsharp mask?
Software: AstroArt