Double Cluster in Perseus

CLICK HERE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION - (2400x1554)

Scope: Megrez II 80 mm APO at f/6.9; Location: Laguna Mountains, CA;  12 September, 2009; Camera: Canon XT 350D (Baader ACF modified)

Exposure: 16 x 3 min  (unfiltered)   ISO 800 , 6 Darks, no Flats 

Processing: Images were captured with DSLR Focus  and saved as RAW file format. Exposures were decoded and dark corrected in IRIS. Exposures were aligned and stacked in IRIS with Sigma Median.  Dark point equalization and rough color balance  were done in IRIS.  Gamma and saturation adjustments were also done in IRIS.  Stretch and crop adjustments were done in Photoshop.   Background noise reduction was performed by PixInsight LE  (SGBNR).  Final stretching and touch up was done in PhotoShop.     Final Image size is approximately 3465x2244 - re-sampled to 2400x1554.

North is up in this image.  This image is guided.  These two clusters are  NGC 884 and NGC 869 - also known as the "Double Cluster".  NGC 884 is approximately 7,400 light years distant from Earth; NGC 869 is slightly closer at 7,100 light years distant.   The Horizontal FOV is about 130 min.

Image Center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 02h 20m 59s Dec: +57°09'30"

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