Telescope: Meade SN10 at f/4, Orion Atlas EQ-G
Camera: QHY 268c, Mode 0, Gain 30, Offset 30, -10C
Filter: GSO IR Blocking Filter
Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, ASI290MM mini, PHD
Exposure: 16x180sec, saved as FITS
Darks: 32×180 sec
Flats: 64×1 sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk
Average Light Pollution: Red zone, good transparency
Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.7 mag/arc-sec^2
Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip.
White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic
Software: SharpCap Pro, Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop
NGC 7006 is one of two small of two globular clusters in Delphinus, the other being NGC 6934. Although relatively small and faint (Mv 10.6), NGC 7006 is very dense as a class 1 globular. This is one of the farthest globular clusters within easy reach of amateur telescopes; 135,000 light years from us and 127,000 light years from the galactic center. Visually, I’m not sure that I’ve ever resolved this cluster much more than a gray ghost, so it was very rewarding to see it nicely resolved in this image.
NGC 7006 was featured in the October 2015 issue of Sky & Telescope in Ken Hewitt-White’s Going Deep article ‘Small Globular, Tiny Galaxies.’ Many of the galaxies described in this article can be found in this image. Kinda cool.
NGC 7006 is currently high in the southeast at dusk.
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