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: 56x120sec, saved as FITS
Darks: 32×300 sec
Flats: 64×0.1 sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk
Average Light Pollution: Red zone, poor transparency, smoke
Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.1 mag/arc-sec^2
Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip.
White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic
Software: SharpCap Pro, Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop
M3 is a beautiful example of a globular cluster in a relatively lonely stretch of sky. The cluster is a member of the galactic halo and spends much of its time orbiting well outside the plane of the galaxy. It is presently 33,000 light years away from us, 40,000 light years from the galactic core, and 33,000 light years ‘above’ the galactic plane. Home to about 500,000 stars, M3 is relatively young as globular clusters go with an estimated age of 8 billion years.
Ugh, despite the ‘clear’ skies, we are currently dealing with a thick veil of smoke from forest fires in Canada. I was very surprised at how well my cameras could punch through the poor conditions and still give a decent image. Imaging diffuse objects like galaxies is not an option for me right now, but clusters seem to do well, and stellar targets like clusters, double stars, and asteroids are still nice visual targets.
M3 is currently well placed high in the northeast as twilight deepens.
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