NGC 1245 in Perseus

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW (2600x1950)

Scope: Explore Scientific MN152  Maksutov Newtonian at f/4.8, Location: Laguna Mountains, CA   18 October 2014  Camera: ST8300M

Exposure: Exposure: 11 x 6 min  (1x1 bin) exposure with UV/IR block,  6 x 3 min (2x2 bin) RGB exposures.

Processing: Data Collection -  CCDSoft (as FITs).  Calibrated, stacked (Sigma Kappa Combine) in Deep Sky Stacker, L - RGB channel registration, equalization, central gradient removal - Astroart.  Curves, Levels, and Luminance development, RGB combine - Images Plus. Finishing  - Photoshop. Color calibration with eXcalibrator. This image is UV/IR Block for the Luminance channel and then a LRGB combine with Luminance layering.  Saturation in LAB color.   Final Image size is approximately 3352x2532 resized to 2600x1950.

North is to the left in this image.  This field dominated by the open cluster NGC 1245 - also known as Melotte 18. There are a few background galaxies in this field  - the full size image is a larger crop that shows all of them. Also in the lower right is a barely visible object, HaWe 3 which the Simbad database lists as a possible planetary nebula. These objects and some of the brighter stars are highlighted in the annotated image. Distance to NGC 1245  is  9,380 light years; three of the background galaxies have redshift data with distances estimated and noted in the annotated image (in billions of light years).  Horizontal FOV is 88'  (full size crop)

Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 03h 14m 42s Dec: +47°15'00"

All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2014

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