NGC 2301 in Monoceros

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Scope: Megrez 80 mm APO  at f/5.8, Location: Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, CA   25 January 2012  Camera: Artemis285

Exposure: 12 x 3 min  (1x1 bin) exposure with UV/IR block, 8 x 1.5 min (2x2 bin) RGB exposures.

Processing: Images were captured  with Artemis Capture (as FITs).  Aligned/stacked and dark subtracted in Astroart with Sigma Combine.   IR / UV Blocking  filter  and Color channels were scaled and  color balanced in Astroart.  Channels were co-registered in Astroart.   Luminance channel consisted of the IR/UV blocking filter exposures.  Curves and Levels applied in Photoshop to the Luminance channel to optimize star depth.   Final LRGB combine was done in Photoshop.    Final Image size is approximately 1800 x 1350.

North is up in this image. This cluster, NGC 2301 is centrally located in Monoceros roughly between the Rosette Nebula and M50.  This cluster is characterized by visually dominant bright stars.  The estimated distance from Earth is 2,600 light years.  This image replaces an earlier image that is now in the archives. Horizontal FOV is 67'

Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 06h 51m 48s Dec: +00°28'00" 

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

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