November 21, 2024

M56 – Globular Cluster in Lyra

M56 – Globular Cluster in Lyra

Telescope: Unitron 155 4” f/15 refractor, Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra full frame DSLR

Filter: 2” GSO IR Cut Filter

Guide scope: Orion 50mm Guidescope, ASI120MM, PHD, Dithered every 4 subs

Exposure: 34x120sec, ISO 1600, saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction)

Flats: 32×1/10s tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.4 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard EOS, Deepsky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

M56 is a relatively small, dense globular cluster that tends to get a bit lost against the background Milky Way. I have always found this to be a somewhat challenging object visually (at least from my backyard) but it blossoms beautifully with a camera.

M56 currently rises in the northeast as the sky darkens.