2016 August 5 ~ Star clouds in the constellation Scutum

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Photographed at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, between 23.29 and 23.51 EDT

(285 km by road north of Toronto)

* Temperature 17° C.

 

* Total exposure time: 6 minutes.

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Description:

 

One of the brightest sections in our home galaxy, the Milky Way, appears in the small constellation Scutum (the Shield), which appears in the southern sky half way from the horizon to the zenith as seen from southern Canada and the northern United States.

 

In this area appear many foreground cold, dark nebulae, which obscure the light of the stars beyond. These dark regions were photographed and catalogued by the great American astronomer E. E. Barnard (1857 - 1923) (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Emerson_Barnard), and bear the designation "B", numbered from 1 to 370.

 

Near the centre of this view is a favourite target of amateur astronomers with modest telescopes: M11, the "Wild Duck Cluster". This is a rich open cluster of stars that looks like a duck in flight. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Duck_Cluster for more information about M11.

 

For a version of this photo WITH labels, click on the RIGHT side of your screen, or click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/28867652495

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Technical information:

 

Nikkor AF-S 70-200 mm f/2.8 G ED VRII lens on Nikon D810a camera body, mounted on Astrophysics 1100GTO equatorial mount with a Kirk Enterprises ball head

 

Six stacked frames; each frame:

200 mm focal length

ISO 4000; 1 minute exposure at f/4.5; unguided

(with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)

 

Subframes registered in RegiStar;

Stacked and processed in Photoshop CS6 (brightness, contrast, levels, colour balance, colour desaturation)

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Done