Cluster – Page 2 – AstroFotoBlog

M46 M47 Open Clusters

January 30, 2019 JakubK

Open cluster

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Messier 46 (left) and Messier 47 are open clusters located in constellation Puppis. Visually, these clusters are quite close to each other and both fit in the field of view of my smallest telescope. Visual distance is not the real distance, because M46 in approximately 5000 light-years away and M47 is much closer, only 1600 light-years away.

M46 contains roughly 500 members and small planetary nebula called NGC2438 can be found there.

The picture is a stack of 22 pictures, 2 minutes exposure each, which means 44 minutes in total. Unfortunately, my telescope was not properly collimated, therefore the stars are elongated in the upper left corner. Well, I must say that this was the first and the last night in January without clouds, therefore I did not get the chance to recapture this deep space object.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	630 mm
Mount	Avalon M-Zero
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, OAG
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-20°C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR
Filters	Hutech IDAS LPS-D2
Exposure	22x120s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2019-01-30

M79 Globular cluster

January 15, 2019 JakubK

Globular cluster

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Avalon M-Zero Cluster DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Globular cluster Hutech IDAS LPS-D2 M79 Messier79 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 79 is a globular cluster located in constellation Lepus. This cluster is particularly interesting, because it can be observed/photographed only in winter and there is no other globular cluster in that part of the sky. Most of the globular clusters are visible in summer, when the galactic center is shows its beauty. This means that most of the globular clusters are close to the galactic center, but M79 is actually at the edge of our galaxy. Diameter of our own Milky Way galaxy is approximately 100,000 light-years. M79 is roughly 60,000 light-years far from galactic center and 42,100 light years away from earth. The study conducted in 2003 revealed the concentration of the stars in constellation Canis Major, which is neighboring constellation to Lepus and it was assumed that there is a dwarf galaxy there. Latest studies disproved this theory and the star concentration is assumed to be caused just by the spiral arm of the Milky Way.

This deep space object is extremely difficult to capture due to its very low declination if observed from Central Europe. Moreover, also the optics was not cooperating this night. I must admit it’s the worst picture of a globular cluster I have ever made. But if I want to complete Messier catalogue this year, I have to publish it as it is. I hope I will get an opportunity to recapture M79 next year.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	570 mm
Mount	Avalon M-Zero
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-15°C
Corrector	TS MaxField
Filters	Hutech IDAS LPS-D2
Exposure	22x60s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2019-01-15

M103 Open Cluster

December 13, 2018 JakubK

Open cluster

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Cassiopeia Cluster DSO Gemini gf53 Hutech IDAS LPS-D2 M103 Messier103 Newton 254/1000 Open cluster TS MaxField coma corrector ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 103 is an open cluster located in constellation Cassiopeia. With its distance 8500 light-year from Earth, this cluster is one of the most distant clusters from Messier’s catalogue.

The picture is a stack of 56 pictures, each 2 minutes long, i.e. nearly two hours of integration time. December is a month, which is rich with deep space objects, but it’s also rich with clouds. In whole December I got only single opportunity to take my telescope outside, therefore this is not the only deep space object, which I captured this night.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	1000 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-20°C
Corrector	TS-Optics 2" 3-element MaxField
Filters	Hutech IDAS LPS-D2
Exposure	56x120s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-12-13

M35 Shoe-Buckle Cluster

November 18, 2018 JakubK

Open cluster

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Cluster DSO Gemini Gemini gf53 Hutech IDAS LPS-D2 M35 MaxField coma corrector Messier35 Newton 254/1000 NGC2158 Open cluster ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 35 an open cluster located in constellation Gemini. The cluster is approximately 2800 light-year far from Earth and it contains roughly 200 stars.

Second open cluster NGC 2158 is located in the background (upper right part of the picture). I didn’t know that there is another cluster in field of view. If I would know it, I would change the composition of the picture.

This cluster was the last one out of four captured during single night. In the early morning I slewed to M35 and went to sleep. The camera captured 56 exposures, 3 minutes each, before the dawn arrived. This means nearly 3 hours of total exposure time.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	1000 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-20°C
Corrector	TS-Optics 2" 3-element MaxField
Filters	Hutech IDAS LPS-D2
Exposure	56x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-11-18

M38 Open Cluster

November 18, 2018 JakubK

Open cluster

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Auriga Cluster DSO Gemini gf53 Hutech IDAS LPS-D2 M38 MaxField coma corrector Messier38 Newton 254/1000 Open cluster ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 38 is an open cluster located in constellation Auriga. It has diameter 25 light-years and it’s approximately 3500 light-year away from Earth.

I managed to capture two open clusters this night already (M39 and M34) and there is still one to go (M35). Therefore I didn’t dedicate a lot of time on M38 – this means that the picture is an integration of one hour of exposure time.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-20°C
Corrector	TS-Optics 2" 3-element MaxField
Filters	Hutech IDAS LPS-D2
Exposure	20x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-11-18

M34 Open Cluster

November 18, 2018 JakubK

Open cluster

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Cluster DSO Gemini gf53 M34 MaxField coma corrector Messier34 Newton 254/1000 Open cluster Perseus ZWO ASI071MC Pro

After capturing M39 I slewed the telescope to another deep space object. Specifically to an open cluster Messier 39. This cluster is located in constellation Perseus and it is approximately 1400 light-years away from Earth and it has diameter roughly 24 light-years.

The picture is a stack of 72 two minute subframes, which means 144 minutes of total integration time.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-20°C
Corrector	TS-Optics 2" 3-element MaxField
Filters	Hutech IDAS LPS-D2
Exposure	72x120s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-11-18

M39 Open cluster

November 18, 2018 JakubK

Open cluster

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Cluster Cygnus DSO Gemini gf53 M39 Messier39 Newton 254/1000 Open cluster TS MaxField coma corrector ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 39 is an open cluster located in constellation Cygnus and it’s only 825 light-year away from Eartch. The cluster is visually located on the galactic plane of the Milky Way, therefore there are so many stars in the background.

I already captured M39 two years ago, but with different camera and different coma corrector. This time I used slightly bigger sensor and brand new corrector TS MaxField. This corrector should reduce the focal length by 5% and also due to the larger sensor I got bigger field of view compared to my previous picture. However, the corrector is not capable of eliminate the coma fully and in the corners are the stars elongated. I spent some time by adjusting the tilt, but this obviously didn’t solve the problem. This means that the only corrector which is capable of eliminating the comatic aberration fully is Explore Scientific HR CC.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-20°C
Corrector	TS-Optics 2" 3-element MaxField
Filters	Hutech IDAS LPS-D2
Exposure	58x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-11-18

Here is the analysis of the curvature by CCD Inspector. I already adjusted the tilt by integrated push-pull screws on ASI071, but there is still some room for improvements.

M2 Globular Cluster

October 4, 2018 JakubK

Globular cluster

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Cluster DSO Gemini gf53 Globular cluster Hutech IDAS LPS-D2 M2 MaxField coma corrector Messier2 Newton 254/1000 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 2 is a globular cluster located in constellation Aquarius and it’s approximately 37’000 light-year away from Earth. It’s one of the biggest known globular cluster, because it contains approximately 150 000 stars and it has 175 light-years in diameter. After Crab Nebula M1, this cluster is the second object of Messier’s catalogue of deep space objects.

This picture was the second captured object (after M71) during one night and it’s an integration of 3 hours of exposure.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-15C
Corrector	TS-Optics 2" 3-element MaxField
Filters	Hutech IDAS LPS-D2
Exposure	60x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-10-04

M71 Globular cluster

October 4, 2018 JakubK

Globular cluster

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Cluster DSO Gemini gf53 Globular cluster Hutech IDAS LPS-D2 M71 MaxField coma corrector Messier71 Newton 254/1000 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 71 is a globular cluster located in constellation Sagitta. The cluster is located approximately 12 – 13 thousand light-years from earth. The classification of M71 as a globular cluster was questionable for a long time, because it lacks central star concentration and therefore it was considered as an open cluster. The diameter of this cluster is only 27 light-years, which is very low value for globular cluster.

Well I am back in light pollute sub-urban area. I can use bigger and heavier telescope, but I am missing dark skies of Milos. The picture is an integration of 38 pictures, with exposure time 3 minutes. Total exposure time was approximately 2 hours.

I managed to test new TS-Optics 2″ 3-element MaxField Newtonian Coma Corrector, which should be 2” version of Wynne corrector. It should have significant advantage compared all 2” coma correctors on the market: it reduces focal length by 5%, should correct full frame CCD (we will see about that) and it should have very low vignetting. I will have to extend my World Wide Coma Correction exercise.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-15C
Corrector	TS-Optics 2" 3-element MaxField
Filters	Hutech IDAS LPS-D2
Exposure	38x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-10-04

NGC6871 Open Cluster

September 15, 2018 JakubK

Open cluster

1 Comment

Cluster Cygnus DSO Explore scientific coma corrector iOptron CEM25P Milky Way Milos Newton 150/600 NGC6871 Open cluster ZWO ASI071MC Pro

NGC6871 is an open cluster located in Cygnus, has less than 50 stars and it is 5135 light-years from Earth. Constellation Cygnus is visually located on the galactic disk of the Milky Way; therefore there are many stars in the background. Particularly interesting are the dark nebulae, surrounding the cluster.

Picture was taken under dark skies of Milos Island and in total, it’s an integration of on 63 minutes.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	21x180s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-15

M70 Globular cluster

September 15, 2018 JakubK

Globular cluster

1 Comment

Cluster DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Globular cluster iOptron CEM25P M70 Messier70 Milky Way Milos Newton 150/600 Sagittarius ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier70 is a globular cluster located in constellation Sagittarius. The cluster is at a distance approximately 29’300 light-years from the Solar System. Neighbor cluster M69 was captured during the same night.

M70 is the 15^th globular cluster captured by me on Milos Island – mission accomplished.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	37x60s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-15

M69 Globular Cluster

September 15, 2018 JakubK

Globular cluster

2 Comments

Cluster DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Globular cluster iOptron CEM25P M69 Messier69 Milky Way Milos Newton 150/600 Sagittarius ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier69 is a globular cluster located in constellation Sagittarius. It is approximately 29’700 light-years away from Earth. Together with Messier70 are close to galactic center of Milky Way (distance between them is 1’800 light-years) and there were two last deep space objects captured on Milos Island. These two were the last missing Messier objects, which I wanted to capture and I was very happy that I managed.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	37x60s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-15

M23 Open Cluster

September 13, 2018 JakubK

Open cluster

2 Comments

Cluster DSO Explore scientific coma corrector iOptron CEM25P M23 Messier23 Milky Way Milos Newton 150/600 Open cluster ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 23 is an open cluster located in constellation Sagittarius not far from the star Polis (µ Sgr). Visually it’s surrounded in rich star field, because in this direction are located star clouds of Milky Way. The cluster contains approximately 150 confirmed members and it’s about 2000 light-years away from the Solar System.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	23x120s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-13

NGC6946 Fireworks Galaxy, NGC6939 Ghost Bush Cluster

September 10, 2018 JakubK

Galaxy

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Cepheus Cluster Cygnus DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Fireworks Galaxy Galaxy Ghost Bush Cluster iOptron CEM25P Milos Newton 150/600 NGC6939 NGC6946 Open cluster ZWO ASI071MC Pro

NGC 6946, sometimes called Fireworks Galaxy, is a beautiful spiral galaxy located between constellations Cepheus and Cygnus. It is approximately 22.5 million light-years away from Earth and it’s a part of Virgo Supercluster of galaxies. The name didn’t get from the shape, but due to frequent explosions of supernovae.

Next to the galaxy is located NGC6939 Ghost Bush Cluster, which is a part of our own Galaxy, therefore the distance from earth is “only” 4000 light-years.

The picture is the last one from the day. I slewed to target, switched on auto guiding and went to sleep. Therefore the picture is an integration of 73 photos, each 5 minutes long, i.e. 6 hours of total time. This is probably the picture with the longest integration time from Milos.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	73x300s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-10

M28 Globular Cluster

September 10, 2018 JakubK

Globular cluster

1 Comment

Cluster DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Globular cluster iOptron CEM25P M28 Messier28 Milos Newton 150/600 Sagittarius ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 28 is a globular cluster located in constellation Sagittarius. Center of Milky Way takes care about the background, which is filled by many stars. The cluster is 17900 light-year away from the Solar system and it has diameter approximately 60 light-years.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	25x120s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-10

M25 Open Cluster

September 10, 2018 JakubK

Open cluster

2 Comments

Cluster DSO Explore scientific coma corrector iOptron CEM25P M25 Messier25 Milky Way Milos Newton 150/600 Open cluster ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 25 is an open cluster in constellation Sagittarius. It’s approximately 2000 light-years from Earth and it contains 50 brighter star and probably few tens of dimmer stars. The background in illuminated by many stars, because this cluster is located in direction of the galactic center of the Milky Way.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	21x180s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-10

M62 Globular Cluster

September 10, 2018 JakubK

Globular cluster

1 Comment

Cluster DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Globular cluster iOptron CEM25P M62 Messier62 Milos Newton 150/600 Ophiuchus ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 62 is a globular cluster located in constellation Ophiuchus and it’s 22’500 light-years from Earth. Globular clusters are the most common deep space objects captured by me on Milos Island.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	23x120s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-10

M19 Globular Cluster

September 9, 2018 JakubK

Globular cluster

1 Comment

Cluster DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Globular cluster iOptron CEM25P M19 Messier19 Milos Newton 150/600 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 19 is a globular cluster located in constellation Ophiuchus and it is approximately 29000 light-years far from Earth. This cluster is particularly interesting by its oval shape and most probably it’s the most oval globular cluster in our galaxy. The cluster, just like M9, is quite close to the galactic center.

The picture, like many others, was taken on island Milos, under dark Greek skies and it’s an integration of 58 minutes of the exposure.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	29x120s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-09

M56 Globular Cluster

September 9, 2018 JakubK

Globular cluster

1 Comment

Cluster DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Globular cluster iOptron CEM25P Lyra M56 Messier56 Milos Newton 150/600 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 56 is a globular cluster located in constellation Lyra. M56 is one of less bright globular cluster, because its distance from Earth is 30’700 light-years.

This is the third (M54 and M55) globular cluster captured in single night and the picture is an integration of 63 frames, each 3 minutes long, i.e. 189 minutes total exposure time.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	63x180s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-09

M55 Globular Cluster

September 9, 2018 JakubK

Globular cluster

1 Comment

Cluster DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Globular cluster iOptron CEM25P M55 Messier55 Milos Newton 150/600 Sagittarius ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 55 is a globular cluster located in constellation Sagittarius. M55 is one of the closest globular cluster, having distance from the Solar System only 17’600 light-years, compared to M54, which is one of the furthest globular clusters (86’400 light-year). I managed to capture these two clusters during single night.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	37x120s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-09

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