AndrewSingleton
The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules. M13/NGC6205
About 23 thousand light years away and 145 light years in diameter comprising of several hundred thousand stars. Most of these stars are incredibly old, about 12 to 13 billion years. Sometimes, as they are so densely packed together, they collide and make new ‘blue straggler’ stars. I can imagine living on a planet around one of these stars, you must not be able to see beyond the local cluster. (Wikipedia and Earthsky)
12 300s and 13 250s Lights (Approx. 1.5 hours) with 21 flats and 79 bias. Dithered.
Telescope: - Skywatcher 130PDS Newtonian.
Camera: - Nikon D3100.
ISO: 400. Automated white balance
Filters: - Baader Mark-III MPCC Coma Corrector. IDAS D2 Light Pollution Suppression Filter
Flats taken with a Huion L4S Light Box.
Wireless Remote: PIXEL TW-283 DC2 2.4G.
Mount: - Skywatcher EQ6R.
Guiding: Skywatcher EvoGuide 50ED & ZWO ASI120MM-Mini.
Polar Aligned with SharpCap Pro.
Control Software: - Stellarium Scope, Stellarium, Poth Hub, EQMOD, All Sky Plate Solver, PHD Guiding 2 and PHD Dither Timer.
Processing Software: Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and edited in Star Tools.
Moon: - Newish
Light Pollution and Location: - Bortle 8 in Davyhulme, Manchester.
Seeing: - Goodish
Notes: - Much as I have enjoyed taking galaxies I really wanted to try something different so had another go at the M13. I did some reading on this beforehand and a lot of people say they don’t overexpose as the core gets blown up. For this reason I took several 30s, 60s, 150s and 300s subs. In the end, the Star Tools Decon module did a really good job of bringing out detail in the core even with my 5 minute exposures so I have just abandoned my shorter ones.
Colour is a constant problem for me with my red/green colour blindness so I rely on the Max RGB option in Star Tools and my wife although I didn’t bother her in this process. In this case I cranked up the ‘Cap Green’ option, and took a sample of the core/nearby galaxy so I hope this is close to being right.
The amount of noise in this picture is annoying me. Another go may be required at some point, either to reprocess or to take the picture when its closer to the zenith.
Previous attempt for comparison:- www.flickr.com/photos/andrewsingleton/8721642768. 7 years ago and some new equipment has made a remarkable improvement on this old picture. This was my first ever attempt at astrophotography through a telescope.
The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules. M13/NGC6205
About 23 thousand light years away and 145 light years in diameter comprising of several hundred thousand stars. Most of these stars are incredibly old, about 12 to 13 billion years. Sometimes, as they are so densely packed together, they collide and make new ‘blue straggler’ stars. I can imagine living on a planet around one of these stars, you must not be able to see beyond the local cluster. (Wikipedia and Earthsky)
12 300s and 13 250s Lights (Approx. 1.5 hours) with 21 flats and 79 bias. Dithered.
Telescope: - Skywatcher 130PDS Newtonian.
Camera: - Nikon D3100.
ISO: 400. Automated white balance
Filters: - Baader Mark-III MPCC Coma Corrector. IDAS D2 Light Pollution Suppression Filter
Flats taken with a Huion L4S Light Box.
Wireless Remote: PIXEL TW-283 DC2 2.4G.
Mount: - Skywatcher EQ6R.
Guiding: Skywatcher EvoGuide 50ED & ZWO ASI120MM-Mini.
Polar Aligned with SharpCap Pro.
Control Software: - Stellarium Scope, Stellarium, Poth Hub, EQMOD, All Sky Plate Solver, PHD Guiding 2 and PHD Dither Timer.
Processing Software: Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and edited in Star Tools.
Moon: - Newish
Light Pollution and Location: - Bortle 8 in Davyhulme, Manchester.
Seeing: - Goodish
Notes: - Much as I have enjoyed taking galaxies I really wanted to try something different so had another go at the M13. I did some reading on this beforehand and a lot of people say they don’t overexpose as the core gets blown up. For this reason I took several 30s, 60s, 150s and 300s subs. In the end, the Star Tools Decon module did a really good job of bringing out detail in the core even with my 5 minute exposures so I have just abandoned my shorter ones.
Colour is a constant problem for me with my red/green colour blindness so I rely on the Max RGB option in Star Tools and my wife although I didn’t bother her in this process. In this case I cranked up the ‘Cap Green’ option, and took a sample of the core/nearby galaxy so I hope this is close to being right.
The amount of noise in this picture is annoying me. Another go may be required at some point, either to reprocess or to take the picture when its closer to the zenith.
Previous attempt for comparison:- www.flickr.com/photos/andrewsingleton/8721642768. 7 years ago and some new equipment has made a remarkable improvement on this old picture. This was my first ever attempt at astrophotography through a telescope.