M2 – Globular Cluster in Aquarius

M2 – Globular Cluster in Aquarius

Telescope: 8” LX80 @ f/6.3, LX90 mount, altaz mode

Camera: Stock Canon 600D, interval timer

Filter: GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: None

Exposure: 24x10sec, ISO 1600, saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction On)

Flats: 32×1/20sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

M2 is a big, beautiful globular cluster that is well placed in the eastern sky in late summer and early fall. It is an easy target for a small telescope. Under dark skies it can even be glimpsed without a telescope or even binoculars. M2 is about 37,500 light years away and lies beyond the galactic center. Like most globular clusters M2 is an ancient relic of the early universe with an estimated age of about 13 billion years.

This is part of a series of images that I will be taking to explore deepsky imaging using fairly basic equipment and techniques.

M2 is currently well placed in the east as the sky darkens.