The Pleiades Cluster ... Messier 45
(Click on Picture for larger view)
Added November 21, 2020 ...
Messier 45 ... The Pleiades Star Cluster
This beautiful cluster, Messier 45, 'The Pleiades' or Seven Sisters, is the finest open cluster in the sky of very young stars located in the sky in the constellation of Taurus the Bull. The cluster is dominated by hot blue and luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. The whispy reflection nebulae around the brightest stars are the results of an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium through which the stars are currently passing. The stars are about 425 light-years away. This naked-eye object is best viewed during the autumn and winter months. To the naked eye, it looks like a fuzzy patch of stars high in the NE sky after a few hours of rising.
I was able to add 35 more minutes to the blue channel on the night of Nov 21 between the passing clouds. I added these to the already 20 minutes of the blue channel along with the 35 minutes of the red and the green filters from earlier in the month making this exposure about a 2hr in length. I used the Orion ED80T telescope with the 0.8x field reducer to widen the view. The camera was the ZWO ASI 1600mm ProTEC.
The Techy Stuff: (For those who want to know)
Telescope: Orion ED80T with 0.8 Field Reducer
Camera: ZWO ASI1600mm ProTEC monochrome
Filters: Red-Green-Blue
Capture Software: N.I.N.A.
Mount: Celestron CGEM
Mount Control: Celestron PWI v2.1.25
Calibration Frames: Darks, Flats ... 30ea
Polar Alignment: QHY Pole Master
Stacking: Deep Sky Staker v4.2.2 64 bit
Post Procession: PixInsight & PhotoShop CC
Bortle Light Pollution zone: 4.5
Seeing Conditions: 9 (out of 10)
Location: My Heavenly Garden Backyard, Savannah, GA
Previous Captures:
Click on image for larger view
October 6, 2019
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Setting: 200mm (12 degrees viewing angle)
Camera: Altair Hypercam 294c Pro TEC
Camera interface: Altair Canon EOS Lens Adapter Spacer - Hypercam TEC
Filter: Altair QuadBand OSC CCD 2" Narrow Band
Camera Settings: 120 seconds at gain of 7,500 (10%)
Camera Sensor Temp ... 14°F (-10°C)
Added March 7, 2018 ...
Messier 45 ... The Pleiades Star Cluster
This beautiful cluster 'The Pleiades' or Seven Sisters, is the finest open cluster in the sky of very young stars located in the sky in the constellation of Taurus the Bull. The stars are only 115 million years old and are only about 425 light-years away. This naked eye object is best viewed during the autumn and winter months. To the naked eye, it looks like a fuzzy patch of stars high in the NE sky after a few hours of rising.
The Techy Stuff ... For those who want to know ...
Telescope: Orion ED80T at f/6
Location: My Backyard, Savannah, GA
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