Hyades Widefield

Hyades
All Images Copyright Steve Cannistra


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Please click here for a medium-size (40%).


Characteristics:
Position Angle: 259 degrees
RA: 04h 26m 36s (J2000)
Dec: +18degrees 25' 56" (J2000)


Description:
The Hyades is the nearest open star cluster to Earth, with a distance of only 153 light years.  In Greek mythology, the stars of this cluster were named after the
five daughters of Atlas and the half-sisters of the Pleiades, forming the famous "V" shaped asterism in the constellation Taurus (representing the "head of the bull").  Although the majority of bright stars in this image belong to the Hyades, the brightest star in the lower right (Aldebaran) is separate, being closer to Earth (65 light years) and not gravitationally bound to the other stars in the cluster.  What is most noteworthy about this field of view is the widespread dust that hides nascent star formation and several Herbig-Haro objects.  This is especially the case for regions such as SH2-239 and NGC 1555, which are identified in my labeled image.  More information about this well-studied region may be found here.

Photographic Details:
Dates of image acquistion:  November 5, 6, and 8, 2021
Scope/Camera:  FSQ106/U16M for central portion of image (3.5"/pixel); Samyang/Rokinon 135mm lens/Canon T71 for widefield (5.8"/pixel)
Autoguider:  ST402
Filters (for U16M):  Baader LRGB
Exposures:  Total exposure 15 hours (U16M: 5 hours; Canon T7i:  10 hours)
Processing:  Preprocessed in PixInsight; Postprocessed in Photoshop CS (16 bit format)


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