M67 - King Cobra Cluster

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW (2600x1950)

Scope: FSQ-106N at f/5, Location: Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, CA   17 February 2015  Camera: Atik 383L

Exposure: Exposure: 11 x 6 min  (1x1 bin) exposure with UV/IR block,  8 x 2 min (1x1 bin) RGB exposures.

Processing: Data Collection -  Sequence Generator Pro (as FITs).  Calibrated, stacked (Kappa Sigma Combine) Deep Sky Stacker, LRGB channel registration, equalization, and central gradient removal - Astroart.  Curves, Levels, RGB combine Images Plus. Luminance layering and finishing  - Photoshop. This image is a  LRGB combine with Luminance layering.  Color saturation in LAB color;    Final Image size is approximately 2600x1950.

North is up in this image. This field is dominated by the M67 star cluster (image center). M67 is considered one of the older Milky Way star clusters. The Star cluster database WEBDA summarizes the age at about 2.6 billion years. Other estimates range up to 4 billion years. This put the cluster's age about the same as our solar system. This cluster is also known by the common name of the "King Cobra" cluster. There are a few very small (at this image scale) background galaxies in this field. These galaxies are identified in the  annotated image.  M67 is about 2,900 light years distant from Earth  This image replaces an earlier image that can be seen in the Archives here.  Horizontal FOV is 120'.

Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 08h 51m 32s Dec: +11°48'51" 

All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2015 copyright 2003 - 2012

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