Telescope: Meade SN6 Comet Tracker at f/3.6, Orion Atlas EQ-G
Camera: Full Spectrum Modified Nikon D5300, Baader Mk III MPCC
Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter
Guide scope: Orion 50mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini
Exposure: 31x60sec, ISO 200, saved as RAW
Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction On)
Flats: 32×1/10sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk
Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, poor transparency, bright moonlight
Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 17.9 mag/arc-sec^2
Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.
White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic
Software: Backyard Nikon, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop
M45 is a big, beautiful, bright open cluster that is easily visible to the naked eye and is a delight in binoculars and small telescopes. Given the poor sky conditions I was surprised that I captured any of the reflection nebula, but it does a fair job of showing what the cluster looks like from a dark sky site. Interestingly, the nebula is not associated with the cluster, it just happens to be passing through a dusty region of space.
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