M13 ,
NGC5466 (Updated May. 1, 2022)
Showcasing: M13![]() |
Designation: M13 Alternate Name: NGC6205 Constellation: Hercules Imaging Date: May 1, 2022 Imaging Location: Concord Exposure Time: 113 frames@180sec ~ 5.7hrs Gain Setting: 200 Imaging Device: ZWO ASI2600 Optics: Classic LX200 12" SCT Focal Reducer: Meade Series 4000 f/6.3 Filter: none Apparent Size: 23.2' Comment: M13 is about 145 light years in diameter and over 25,000 light years distant. Finally, an updated-updated version of this beautiful globular, this time with my ASI2600mc and over 5h of exposure time! If you can set up your browswer to switch back and forth between this one and my 26min T3I version, the difference is staggering! Interestingly, the very distinctive "tendrils" I saw in my earliest processed version here are gone! Of course, this earliest version is probably closest to what you actually see with your eye. I can't forget the first time seeing M13 with my 8inch Newtonian in a Bortle 2 sky - 40 years later, that crystal clear view is still fresh in my mind! |
NGC6293![]() |
M2![]() |
NGC6356![]() |
Designation: NGC6293 Alternate Name: NA Constellation: Ophiuchus Imaging Date: August 7, 2015 Imaging Location: Concord Exposure Time: 38 frames@20sec ~ 12.7min Gain Setting: ISO 1600 Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i Optics: LX200R 10" SCT Focal Reducer: Optec Lepus 0.62X Filter: none Apparent Size: 3.5' Comment: The second lowest metallicity globular in our galaxy - about 29,000 light years from Earth. |
Designation: M2 Alternate Name: NGC7089 Constellation: Aquarius Imaging Date: September 6, 2013 Imaging Location: Concord Exposure Time: 80 frames@20sec ~ 26.7min Gain Setting: ISO 1600 Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i Optics: LX200R 10" SCT Focal Reducer: Optec Lepus 0.62X Filter: none Apparent Size: 11.7' Comment: This is a reprocessed version of my original image here which previously had a little too much purple/blue! M2 is over 175 light years in diameter, making it one of the largest globular clusters known. It is approximately 37500 light years away and also about 13 billion years old, almost as old as the Universe itself! |
Designation: NGC6356 Alternate Name: NA Constellation: Ophiuchus Imaging Date: June 24, 2015 Imaging Location: Concord Exposure Time: 70 frames@20sec ~ 23.3min Gain Setting: ISO 1600 Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i Optics: LX200R 10" SCT Focal Reducer: Optec Lepus 0.62X Filter: none Apparent Size: 3.5' Comment: This metal rich globular is only about 40 light years in diameter, with a tight 1.5' core. It is located about 15000 light years away and 8000 light years from the center of the galaxy, well out of the central galactic plane. Hard to believe Herschel missed this one! |
M71![]() |
M56![]() |
M3![]() |
Designation: M71 Alternate Name: NGC6838 Constellation: Sagitta Imaging Date: September 6, 2013 Imaging Location: Concord Exposure Time: 80 frames@20sec ~ 26.7min Gain Setting: ISO 1600 Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i Optics: LX200R 10" SCT Focal Reducer: Optec Lepus 0.62X Filter: none Apparent Size: 6.1' Comment: M71 is rather small with a diameter of only 27 light years at a distance of about 12000 light years. It is relatively young for a globular (9 - 10 billion years) and is considered to be a very loosely concentrated globular. |
Designation: M56 Alternate Name: NGC6779 Constellation: Lyra Imaging Date: August 17, 2014 Imaging Location: Concord Exposure Time: 78 frames@20sec ~ 26.0min Gain Setting: ISO 1600 Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i Optics: LX200R 10" SCT Focal Reducer: Optec Lepus 0.62X Filter: none Apparent Size: 5' Comment: Magnitude 8.3 globular in Lyra follows a retrograde motion around our galaxy. It is thought to be a possible remnant from a past merger between our galaxy and a dwarf galaxy whose nucleus remained as the globular Omega Centauri! At a distance of about 32,900 light years, it's somewhat smaller than average at about 85 light years in diameter. |
Designation: M3 Alternate Name: NGC5272 Constellation: Canes Venatici Imaging Date: March 9, 2021 Imaging Location: Concord Exposure Time: 54 frames@180sec ~ 2.7hrs Gain Setting: 100 Imaging Device: ZWO ASI2600 Optics: Classic LX200 12" SCT Focal Reducer: Meade Series 4000 f/6.3 Filter: none Apparent Size: 18.6' Comment: 8 years later, with a larger scope, cooled camera and improved processing skills and this is what you get! Compare with my previous version. Messier 3 is a prototype of a Oosterhoff type I cluster, known as a "metal-rich" globular cluster. It also contains the largest number of variable stars out all the Milky Way globulars. It has a diameter of about 180 light years, and is about 33900 light years distant. |
M92![]() |
M12![]() |
NGC2419![]() |
Designation: M92 Alternate Name: NGC6341 Constellation: Hercules Imaging Date: July 30, 2012 Imaging Location: Concord Exposure Time: 44 frames@20sec ~ 14.7min Gain Setting: ISO 3200 Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i Optics: LX200R 10" SCT Focal Reducer: Optec Lepus 0.62X Filter: none Apparent Size: 12.2' Comment: A beautiful globular cluster in Hercules, often overshadowed by its larger upstart M13. The stars in this image are somewhat sharper as compared to the stars in M13, which I took not yet using my Bahtinov mask for focus! It is an example of an Oosterhoff type II globular cluster, which means it belongs to the group of metal poor clusters. It is about 110 light years in diameter and approximately 26700 light years distant. |
Designation: M12 Alternate Name: NGC6218 Constellation: Ophiuchus Imaging Date: June 4, 2013 Imaging Location: Concord Exposure Time: 80 frames@20sec ~ 26.7min Gain Setting: ISO 3200 Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i Optics: LX200R 10" SCT Focal Reducer: Optec Lepus 0.62X Filter: none Apparent Size: 12.2' Comment: M12 is about 15,700 light-years from Earth and has a spatial diameter of about 75 light-years. The optical focus on this globular I think was superb, giving me the most crisp globular image to date. M92 was also really clear, but I think this one surpasses even that. |
Designation: NGC2419 Alternate Name: Intergalactic Wanderer Constellation: Lynx Imaging Date: March 17, 2014 Imaging Location: Concord Exposure Time: 80 frames@20sec ~ 26.7min Gain Setting: ISO 1600 Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i Optics: LX200R 10" SCT Focal Reducer: Optec Lepus 0.62X Filter: none Apparent Size: 6.2' Comment: Great focus and dark frames - a perfect formula for success! This remote globular cluster is known as the "Intergalactic Wanderer" - at an approximate distance of 280,000 light years, it's the furthest globular cluster in our galaxy, orbiting once every 3 billion years! Its small apparent size and faintness belies its true nature as one of the brightest and most massive globular clusters in the galaxy. I was able to get it into really nice focus using my Bahtinov mask. Normally, I select a fairly bright star to do my fine focus. However, this time I used a much smaller fainter star that seemed to enable me to improve the accuracy of the Bahtinov pattern - which I think paid off! Compare with NGC6440 - the Wanderer is 10 times further away and *still* bigger! |
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Last Updated: May. 7, 2022 |
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