M34
Characteristics:
Magnitude: 5.5
Size: About 22'
Distance: 1400 light years
RA: 02h 42m 13.5s
Dec: 42 degrees 46' 19"
Description:
M34 is a beautiful, large open cluster
in Perseus, a constellation that contains other famous open clusters
such as NGC 869 and
NGC 884. The contrast in star color is impressive, with a
predominance of young blue stars admixed with an occasional older
yellow-red stars.
Inspection of this field on higher power reveals
many small background galaxies. More information about M34 may be
found here.
Photographic Details:
Date: January 1, 2005
Scope: Takahashi
Sky 90 at f4.5 with field flattener/focal reducer, on the G11 Losmandy
Mount. I made a circular rim out of PVC tubing which fitted over
the dew shield of the Sky90 and permitted placement of an elastic band
to form an "X". This created the star spikes shown above for the
brighter stars. A photograph of this device is shown here (this
could also
be accomplished with kite string or fishing line).
Autoguider: SBIG STV with
e-finder.
Camera: SXV-H9
Filter: Astronomik
Type II R, G, B, plus clear filter set.
Exposures: L:R:G:B. 8 x 2'
for Luminance (clear filter); R, G, and B (5 x 3' each), all unbinned.
Conditions: Temperature 36 degrees F; below average
transparency; below average seeing; a little breezy; occasional high,
thin
clouds passing through.
Post-processing: No darks,
flats, or bias frames used. Alignment and Min/Max Excluded
combine done in ImagesPlus.
DDP was
performed in ImagesPlus
(IP). Subsequent
levels and curves adjustments in Photoshop CS (16 bit format).
Please
note: Graphics on this website
may not be reproduced without author permission.
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