View allAll Photos Tagged globularcluster
This is a color composite image of the globular cluster M72. In the image North is up and East is to the left.
Image details:
L 33 10s
B 20 30s
G 30 20s
R 40 15s
CCD FLI 1024x1024
CCD temp -30C
Telescope .8 meter Ortega at Florida Tech
I am relatively pleased with the way this turned out. The exposure times were probably too short again, but this made it so the core of the cluster was not blown out. I was able to get a lot of the dimmer stars down near the core, but didn't get the larger extent of the cluster because of that. The color is almost representative of what it should be, but is probably slightly yellow/red.
Maxim DL was used to acquire the image, IRAF was used to correct the images, Maxim DL was used to combine into the color frames, and Photoshop was used to combine into the final composite image with further editing.
Nikon D3100 - Telescopio Sky-Watcher Dobsonian 203mm/1200mm (8") - ISO 6400 - 1/2s
47 Tucanae (NGC 104) o simplemente 47 Tuc es un cúmulo globular situado en la constelación Tucana. Está a unos 16.700 años luz de la tierra y tiene un diámetro de unos 120 años luz. Puede verse a simple vista, con una magnitud visual de 4,0.
47 Tucanae fue descubierto por Nicolas Louis de Lacaille en 1751, su localización sureña lo había mantenido oculto a los observadores europeos hasta entonces.
Es el segundo cúmulo globular más brillante después de Omega Centauri, y se caracterizar por poseer un brillo vivo y un núcleo denso. Tiene conocidos 23 púlsares de milisegundo, y por lo menos 21 estrellas rezagadas azules cerca del núcleo
(Info de es.wikipedia.org/wiki/47_Tucanae)
The probably most famous globular cluster :)
GSO 8" F5
Canon 7D
1 x 60s (As I realized afterwards, not aligning well enough gave me some really weird rotation issues while stacking...so that processing the single frame was the only alternative ._.)
Messier 3 (NGC 5272) is a bright globular cluster located in the constellation Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs. One of the premier clusters in the northern sky, M3 was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1764.
M3 is composed of nearly a half-million stars, gravitationally bound to one another in a cluster roughly 180 light years across. Although it is intrinsically one of the largest and brightest globular clusters in the Milky Way, its distance of nearly 34,000 light-years means that it is just barely visible to the naked eye from the best observing sites on Earth.
Technical information: This image is a composite of 10 frames with an exposure of 150 seconds each (25 minutes total). Ten flat frames and ten dark frames were then stacked and processed into the image. The image was taken with a modified Canon 5D Mark II DSLR through an Orion 190mm Maksutov-Newtonian telescope atop an Orion Atlas mount. It was taken at the Seminole State College Geneva Center (Geneva, FL) on the observing night of March 19-20, 2012.
A globular cluster is kind of a miniature galaxy containing thousands of stars rather than billions. This one is large for a globular cluster, containing hundreds of thousands or perhaps even a million stars. This one is usually called "The great globular cluster in Hercules" or M13 as it's the 13th object on Messier's list of deep-sky objects. It's about 25,000 lightyears away and orbits our own Milky Way. It's located on Hercules' thigh or side, depending on which stick figure of Hercules you choose to see. Under exceedingly dark skies (think rowboat in the middle of the pacific ocean) with no moon, this is visible as a small light gray patch in the sky.
My full shot also caught a nearby galaxy but it was just a couple lighter grey pixels, not worth seeing. :)
This is something like 22 images, each at 25 seconds with a digital rebel XTi, aligned and stacked in IRIS. It was under a full moon which was washing out everything. :( Taken with an 8" newtonian telescope.
Edited Chandra Space Telescope (along with other telescopes) image of a globular cluster with ripped apart solar systems. Optical-only version of the image.
Original caption: Using Chandra and several other telescopes, researchers have found evidence that a white dwarf star - the dense core of a star like the Sun that has run out of nuclear fuel - may have ripped apart a planet as it came too close. This composite image provides one of the clues: Chandra shows that the X-rays (pink) are not coming from the cluster's center, as is evident when combined with visible light data from the Hubble Space Telescope (red, green, and blue). Instead, the details of the combined datasets point to a possible tidal disruption where one astronomical object destroys another through powerful gravitational forces.
Messier 19 or M19 (also designated NGC 6273) is a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. It was discovered by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764 and added to his catalogue of comet-like objects that same year. It was resolved into individual stars by William Herschel in 1784. His son, John Herschel, described it as "a superb cluster resolvable into countless stars".
The cluster is located 4.5° WSW of Theta Ophiuchi and is just visible as a fuzzy point of light using 50 mm (2.0 in) binoculars. Using a telescope with a 25.4 cm (10.0 in) aperture, the cluster shows an oval appearance with a 3′ × 4′ core and a 5′ × 7′ halo.
M19 is one of the most oblate of the known globular clusters. This flattening may not accurately reflect the physical shape of the cluster because the emitted light is being strongly absorbed along the eastern edge. This is the result of extinction caused by intervening gas and dust. When viewed in the infrared, the cluster shows almost no flattening. It lies at a distance of about 28.7 kly (8.8 kpc) from the Solar System, and is quite near to the Galactic Center at only about 6.5 kly (2.0 kpc) away.
This cluster contains an estimated 1,100,000 times the mass of the Sun and it is around 11.9 billion years old. The stellar population includes four Cepheids and RV Tauri variables, plus at least one RR Lyrae variable for which a period is known. Observations made during the ROSAT mission failed to reveal any low-intensity X-ray sources.
More Information: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_1
Credit: NASA/STScI/WikiSky
The very last deep sky image on the 2012-2013 astrophotography season. The M13 is a large globular cluster in Hercules. The image is stacked from six 5 minute exposures with LRGB filters.
A scan of an old photo that I took, using a Nikon camera body, with Konica 3200 film. Taken around 1990.
300,000 - 1,000,000 stars are packed into this Globular Cluster. Bluer stars are more prominent in the center.
Esta enorme bola de estrellas es anterior a nuestro Sol. Mucho antes de que la humanidad evolucionara, antes de que los dinosaurios vagaran y, incluso antes de que nuestra Tierra existiera, antiguos globos de estrellas se condensaban y orbitaban una joven galaxia Vía Láctea.
De los 200, más o menos, cúmulos globulares que sobreviven hoy, Omega Centauri es el más grande, conteniendo unos diez millones de estrellas.
Omega Centauri también es el cúmulo globular más brillante. Con una magnitud visual aparente de 3,9 es visible para los observadores meridionales a simple vista. Catalogado como NGC 5239, Omega Centauri está a unos 18 000 años-luz de distancia y tiene 150 años-luz de diámetro.
A diferencia de otros cúmulos globulares, las estrellas de Omega Centauri muestran varias edades diferentes, así como riquezas de trazas químicas, lo que indica que el cúmulo globular de estrellas posee una compleja historia durante sus 12 mil millones de años de edad.
Capturada en Abril en la comuna de #litueche, Vl Region.
LATEST VERSION: flic.kr/p/2pUT1Ko
Messier 15 / M15 / NGC 7078 / The Great Pegasus Cluster
156 x 10 seconds (26 minutes); seeing 4/5, transparency 3/5
Canon T3i (stock)
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Lens
f/5.6 ISO800
Off-brand motorized equatorial mount (similar to Orion EQ-1)
Bortle Class 6 (Charlottesville, VA)
Edited Hubble Space Telescope image of the globular cluster NGC 6558.
Original caption: This glittering gathering of stars is the globular cluster NGC 6558, and it was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescopeâs Advanced Camera for Surveys. NGC 6558 is closer to the centre of the Milky Way than Earth is, and lies about 23 000 light years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Globular clusters like NGC 6558 are tightly bound collections of tens of thousands to millions of stars, and they can be found in a wide range of galaxies. As this observation shows, the stars in globular clusters can be densely packed; this image is thronged with stars in a rich variety of hues. Some of the brightest inhabitants of this globular cluster are surrounded by prominent diffraction spikes, which are imaging artefacts caused by starlight interacting with the inner workings of Hubble. Globular clusters equip astronomers with interesting natural laboratories in which to test their theories, as all the stars in a globular cluster formed at approximately the same time with similar initial composition. These stellar clusters therefore provide unique insights into how different stars evolve under similar conditions. This image comes from a set of observations investigating globular clusters in the inner Milky Way. Astronomers were interested in studying these globular clusters to gain greater insight into how globular clusters in the inner Milky Way form and evolve.
Equipment: Nikon D5300, Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD lens, and iOptron Skytracker. Taken at 300mm, f/8.0, ISO 3200, 61 frames of 30 seconds each plus 60 darks. Stacked in Regim and cropped/processed in Lightroom.
Edited Hubble Space Telescope image of the globular cluster NGC 6638. Color/processing variant.
This star-studded image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the heart of the globular cluster NGC 6638 in the constellation Sagittarius. The star-strewn observation highlights the density of stars at the heart of globular clusters, which are stable, tightly bound clusters of tens of thousands to millions of stars. To capture the data in this image, Hubble used two of its cutting-edge astronomical instruments: Wide Field Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. Hubble revolutionised the study of globular clusters, as it is almost impossible to clearly distinguish the stars in globular clusters with ground-based telescopes. The blurring caused by Earth’s atmosphere makes it impossible to tell one star from another, but from Hubble’s location in low Earth orbit the atmosphere no longer poses a problem. As a result, Hubble has been used to study what kind of stars globular clusters are made up of, how they evolve, and the role of gravity in these dense systems. The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope will further our understanding of globular clusters by peering into those globular clusters that are currently obscured by dust. Webb will predominantly observe at infrared wavelengths, which are less affected by the gas and dust surrounding newborn stars. This will allow astronomers to inspect star clusters that are freshly formed, providing insights into stellar populations before they have a chance to evolve.
Globular cluster M14 near the top and asteroid 6 Hebe near the bottom (marked), each image made with 47 out of 51 8s shots at ISO 1600, taken with a Canon 100D at prime focus of a 100mm f/9 ED refractor, stacked with Deep Sky Stacker and processed with Gimp.
Seeing was pretty bad but Hebe was in an interesting position, a little less than 1 degree away from M14 and passing near a matching 9th magnitude field star (they're about 40 arcseconds apart in the third frame).
NGC6624 is a globular cluster located approximately 26,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Saggitarius. It was discovered in 1784 by William Herschel.
This cluster is a DSO in the Astronomical League Universe Sampler program.
Imaged from Broemmelsiek Park in Defiance, MO on August 20, 2015.
Celestron Nexstar 8SE
Orion EQ6
Canon T2i (modified)
15x300s
#NGC6624 #Globular #Space #Astronomy #Astrophotography
M3 is a globular cluster containing 500,000 stars. It formed around 11.4 billion years ago, making it more than twice as old as planet Earth.
* March and April 2021
* Bristol, UK (Bortle 8 )
* Telescope: Askar FRA400 f/5.6 Quintuplet APO Astrograph
* Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO
* Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G
* Guide: William Optics 32mm; ZWO ASI 120MM Mini
* Software: PixInsight, Photoshop, Lightroom
* 300 x 120 seconds
------------------------------------------------------------
Total integration time: 10 hours
------------------------------------------------------------
By Lee Pullen
Edited Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 121, a global cluster of stars that belongs to the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy.
Original caption: This image shows NGC 121, a globular cluster in the constellation of Tucana (The Toucan). Globular clusters are big balls of old stars that orbit the centres of their galaxies like satellites — the Milky Way, for example, has around 150. NGC 121 belongs to one of our neighbouring galaxies, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). It was discovered in 1835 by English astronomer John Herschel, and in recent years it has been studied in detail by astronomers wishing to learn more about how stars form and evolve. Stars do not live forever — they develop differently depending on their original mass. In many clusters, all the stars seem to have formed at the same time, although in others we see distinct populations of stars that are different ages. By studying old stellar populations in globular clusters, astronomers can effectively use them as tracers for the stellar population of their host galaxies. With an object like NGC 121, which lies close to the Milky Way, Hubble is able to resolve individual stars and get a very detailed insight. NGC 121 is around 10 billion years old, making it the oldest cluster in its galaxy; all of the SMC's other globular clusters are 8 billion years old or younger. However, NGC 121 is still several billions of years younger than its counterparts in the Milky Way and in other nearby galaxies like the Large Magellanic Cloud. The reason for this age gap is not completely clear, but it could indicate that cluster formation was initially delayed for some reason in the SMC, or that NGC 121 is the sole survivor of an older group of star clusters. This image was taken using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). A version of this image was submitted to the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Stefano Campani.
The great globular cluster in Hercules, about 25,000 light years away, is said to contain over a million stars.
Best viewed large.
Eight 30-second shots at ISO 1600, taken at prime focus with an Orion SVP 80ED, stacked with DeepSkyStacker.
[Edit: Adjusted levels and saturation.]
In spite of the tracking errors and loss of eyeglasses, this image should give you an idea of just how spectacular the sky appeared on Mount Tam last Saturday. Globular Cluster M22 in Sagittarius, about 10,000 light years away, it's near. This is looking towards the galactic bulge of our own galaxy the Milky Way.
1 Sub @ 15 sec.
Messier Object M13 (Globular Cluster)
Date: 08-21-2012
Telescope (Lens): Orion 8in f/3.9 Newtonian Astrograph
Addition Optics: None
Camera: Canon XSi
Exposure: 41 x 120 sec (ISO 800) + Darks x10,Flats x10, Bias x10, & Dark Flats x10
Processing: DeepSkyStacker, Photoshop
Mount: Atlas EQ-G
Tracking: EQMOD / Stellarium
Guidance: PHD Guiding - 9x50 Finderscope w/ Logitech 3000 Pro Webcam
Astromomy weather as forcasted by Canadian Meteorological Center:
Cloud Cover: Clear
Transparancy: Above Average
Seeing Category: III (Average)
Temp: 74°F
Humidity: 65°
Light Pollution: "Red" - Based on Light Pollution Map
Celestron C8 PowerStar PEC (with f/6.3 reducer)
Canon EOS 1100d
Unguided equatorial mount with PEC enabled
50x6sec
ISO800
Processed in Iris:
Stacked with flat field frames and archived master dark frame
Colour balance corrected.
Edited Rijksmuseum print of various astronomical phenomena.
Image source: www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/search/objects?q=RP-P-1912-553&...
Messier 10 or M10 (also designated NGC 6254) is a globular cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus. The object was discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier on May 29, 1764, who cataloged it as number 10 in his catalogue and described it as a "nebula without stars". In 1774, German astronomer Johann Elert Bode likewise called it a "nebulous patch without stars; very pale". Using larger instrumentation, German-born astronomer William Herschel was able to resolve the cluster into its individual members. He described it as a "beautiful cluster of extremely compressed stars". William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse thought he could distinguish a dark lane through part of the cluster. The first to estimate the distance to the cluster was Harlow Shapley, although his derivation of 33,000 light years was much further than the modern value.
Edited Hubble Space Telescope image of the globular cluster NGC 6638. Inverted grayscale variant.
This star-studded image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the heart of the globular cluster NGC 6638 in the constellation Sagittarius. The star-strewn observation highlights the density of stars at the heart of globular clusters, which are stable, tightly bound clusters of tens of thousands to millions of stars. To capture the data in this image, Hubble used two of its cutting-edge astronomical instruments: Wide Field Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. Hubble revolutionised the study of globular clusters, as it is almost impossible to clearly distinguish the stars in globular clusters with ground-based telescopes. The blurring caused by Earth’s atmosphere makes it impossible to tell one star from another, but from Hubble’s location in low Earth orbit the atmosphere no longer poses a problem. As a result, Hubble has been used to study what kind of stars globular clusters are made up of, how they evolve, and the role of gravity in these dense systems. The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope will further our understanding of globular clusters by peering into those globular clusters that are currently obscured by dust. Webb will predominantly observe at infrared wavelengths, which are less affected by the gas and dust surrounding newborn stars. This will allow astronomers to inspect star clusters that are freshly formed, providing insights into stellar populations before they have a chance to evolve.
Manually guided off-axis for 9 x 8-minute exposures at f7.5, ISO 1600. Subs registered & stacked using DeepSkyStacker software.
Unmodified EOS 40D & Meade 127mm ED telescope.
NGC 288 - globular cluster in Sculptor, near the South Galactic Pole; stack of 12 125s exposures, Edge HD 9.25" at f/2.3 with HyperStar and Atik 314L+ color CCD; shot from Joshua Tree Lake Campground as part of the Virtual Star Party for 2012 November 11
M13: The Great Globular Cluster in the Hercules Constellation. The galaxy in the upper right is Herschel H701.
This picture of the was taken at the Astronomy Society of Kansas City's dark sky site near Butler, MO on June 2, 2009. The picture was taken with a Nikon D50 camera (ISO1600) mounted on a C11 telescope on a CGE mount using Hyperstar at F/2. 10 images of 30 seconds each.
Edited Hubble Space Telescope image of the globular cluster M75. Color/processing variant.
This sparkling burst of stars is Messier 75. It is a globular cluster: a spherical collection of stars bound together by gravity. Clusters like this orbit around galaxies and typically reside in their outer and less-crowded areas, gathering to form dense communities in the galactic suburbs. Messier 75 lies in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer), around 67 000 light-years away from Earth. The majority of the cluster’s stars, about 400 000 intotal, are found in its core; it is one of the most densely populated clusters ever found, with a phenomenal luminosity of some 180 000 times that of the Sun. No wonder it photographs so well! Discovered in 1780 by Pierre Méchain, Messier 75 was also observed by Charles Messier and added to his catalogue later that year. This image of Messier 75 was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys.
Newtonian telescope180mm f/7 built by Brazilian ATM Dario Pires
Equatorial mount
Monocromatic camera DMK21AU04.AS.
Data
Gain 790
Exposure 6.855sec
Gamma 133
No filter and no eyepices or barlow used, only the primary and secondary mirrors.
Contrast carefully enhanced with photoshop (But not producing anything not real).
NGC 104, better known as 47 Tucanae, is the second largest and second brightest globular cluster in the skies, outshone only by another southern globular, the Omega Centauri. The stars of 47 Tucanae are spread over a volume nearly 120 light years across. At their distance of 13,400 light years, they still cover an area of the sky of about the same apparent diameter as the full moon, about 30 minutes of arc. Globular cluster 47 Tucanae is approaching us at roughly 19 km/s. (Font:http://www.maa.clell.de).
Português: NGC 104, mais conhecido como 47 Tucanae, é o segundo maior e segundo mais brilhante aglomerado nos céus, perdendo em brilho só para outro aglomerado no céu do sul, o Omega Centari. As estrelas de 47 Tucanae estão espalhadas em um volume com cerca de 120 anos luz de diâmetro. Em sua distância de 13.400 anos luz, elas ainda cobrem uma área do céu praticamente do mesmo diâmetro da lua cheia, cerca de 30 minutos de arco. O aglomerado globular 47 Tucanae está se aproximando de nós em torno de 19km/s. (Fonte: www.maa.clell.de).
Equipment: Nikon D5300, Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD lens, and iOptron Skytracker. Taken at 300mm, f/8.0, ISO 3200, 52 frames of 30 seconds each plus 60 darks. Stacked in Regim and cropped/processed in Lightroom.
A cluster of over a million stars.
A combination of 60 second images and 180 second images (to give a high dynamic range). Taken on 6th June 2011 with my new QHY8L cooled CCD.
5 usable lights (60s), 10 darks, 20 flats, 20 bias. Canon EOS 450D DSLR prime focus, ISO1600. Baader Neodymium filter and coma corrector. Sky-Watcher 150P Explorer on EQ3-2 mount. DeepSkyStacker > PixInsight > PhotoShop. Dogged by mount problems had to fix some trailing in PixInsight with Morphological Transformation.
LATEST VERSION: flic.kr/p/2rxcArQ
Messier 3 / M3 / NGC 5272
Messier 3 is one of the brightest globular clusters in the northern sky and it contains about 500,000 stars. It is about 34,000 light-years away, orbiting the Milky Way, and it is estimated to be 11.39 billion years old. It is often overshadowed by M13, a slightly brighter cluster: flic.kr/p/2oKjm3J
Total integration: 8 hours 28 minutes (508 minutes)
02/17/19: 134 x 60 seconds ISO800
03/17/19: 374 x 60 seconds ISO800
Location: Charlottesville, VA
SQM: 19.22 mag/arcsec^2 (Bortle 6)
Camera: Canon T3i (stock/unmodified)
Telescope: Explore Scientific ED80 f/6.0 Apochromatic Refractor (with ES field flattener)
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G (unguided)
Stacked with PixInsight, processed with PixInsight and Paint.NET
Edited Hubble Space Telescope image of the globular cluster NGC 1805 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Color/processing variant.
Original caption: Many colourful stars are packed close together in this image of the globular cluster NGC 1805, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This tight grouping of thousands of stars is located near the edge of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way. The stars orbit closely to one another, like bees swarming around a hive. In the dense centre of one of these clusters, stars are 100 to 1000 times closer together than the nearest stars are to our Sun, making planetary systems around them unlikely. The striking difference in star colours is illustrated beautifully in this image, which combines two different types of light: blue stars, shining brightest in near-ultraviolet light, and red stars, illuminated in red and near-infrared. Space telescopes like Hubble can observe in the ultraviolet because they are positioned above Earth’s atmosphere, which absorbs most of this wavelength, making it inaccessible to ground-based facilities. This young globular cluster can be seen from the southern hemisphere, in the Dorado constellation, which is Portugese for dolphinfish. Usually, globular clusters contain stars which are born at the same time; however, NGC 1805 is unusual as it appears to host two different populations of stars with ages millions of years apart. Observing such clusters of stars can help astronomers understand how stars evolve, and what factors determine whether they end their lives as white dwarfs, or explode as supernovae.
Here is my first picutre of the Great globular Cluster in Hercule constellation taken last night.
The full moon was a bit disturbing and despite the polar alignement was not precisely made, I managed to get a result that I hoped worst !
This image is made of 20 frames of 15 seconds each at ISO 1600 with a Canon T3i.
The telescope used is a 200/800 reflector (without coma corrector ^^)
20 x 15 secs
ISO 1600
F/4
800 mm
A little change of pace...
20 cm Newt
180sec exp (RGB) (5)
speed imaging
NO color adjustment...
Some decon and HDR wavelets to sharpen the stars.
I will reprocess WITHOUT sharpening...see if it is more aesthetically pleasing.
I find this looks WAY to harsh...
It certainly does not compare with M13 for star field depth.
Here is a pro's result;
I think binning is a bad idea here...
Good DSLR image here;
While waiting for M13 to clear the trees I zeroed in on this nice Globular cluster.
Meade LX200 Classic 8" FR/FF f/6.3
Canon EOS 40D unmod
Autoguided Orion SSAG + $16 scope
PHD
20x3 min @ ISO 800
64 darks
64 flats
Stacked in DSS
Pulled and Tugged CS3
NR and final tweaks Canon DPP
The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules with a Nikon D7000, Skywatcher Explorer 200PDS and HEQ5 Pro. Single RAW shot.
Taken on June 6, 2011 near Butler, Missouri using an SBIG8300C camera mounted on a CGE1100 Telescope using Hyperstar (F/2). This is the sum of 14 two minute images, stacked using DeepSkyStacker. The image was then processed with Photoshop CS2.
Guiding used PhD Guiding with an Orion Starshoot autoguider.
Messier 3 (also known as M3 or NGC 5272) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars. It is estimated to be 8 billion years old. It is located at a distance of about 33,900 light-years away from Earth.
26 x 30 second exposures at 6400 ISO plus 10 dark frames and eight flat frames. Processed in Deep Sky Stacker and Photoshop CS6.
What's causing a huge jet to emanate from the center of galaxy M87? Although the unusual jet was first noticed early in the twentieth century, the exact cause is still debated. The above picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1998 shows clear details, however. The most popular hypothesis holds that the jet is created by energetic gas swirling around a massive black hole at the galaxy's center. The result is a 5000 light-year long blowtorch where electrons are ejected outward at near light-speed, emitting eerily blue light during a magnetic spiral. M87 is a giant elliptical galaxy residing only 50 million light-years away in the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. The faint dots of light surrounding M87's center are large ancient globular clusters of stars.
Image Credit: J. A. Biretta et al., Hubble Heritage Team (STScI /AURA), NASA
Messier 14 (also known as M14 or NGC 6402) is a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764.
At a distance of about 30,000 light-years, M14 contains several hundreds of thousands of stars. At an apparent magnitude +7.6 it can be easily observed with binoculars. Medium-sized telescopes will show some hint of the individual stars of which the brightest is of magnitude +14.
The total luminosity of M14 is in the order of 400,000 times that of the Sun corresponding to an absolute magnitude of -9.12. The shape of the cluster is decidedly elongated. M14 is about 100 light-years across.
A respectable total of 70 variable stars is known in M14, many of the W Virginis variety common in globular clusters. In 1938, a nova appeared although this was not discovered until photographic plates from that time were studied in 1964. It is estimated that the nova reached a maximum brightness of magnitude +9.2, over five times brighter than the brightest 'normal' star in the cluster.
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler (www.robgendlerastropics.com)
Camera: Nikon D50
Exposure: 16m (8 frames) ISO 800 RGB
Filter: Orion Skyglow Imaging Filter
Focus Method: Prime focus
Telescope Aperature/Focal Length: 203×812mm
Mount: LXD75
Telescope: Meade 8" Schmidt-Newtonian
Guided: Yes - PHD Guiding
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Adjustments: cropped/leveled in Photoshop
Location: Flintstone, GA