M45 - The Pleiades

CLICK HERE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION - (2400x1800)

Scope: Megrez II 80 mm APO at f/5.2; Location: Laguna Mountains, CA;  14 November, 2009; Camera: Canon XT 350D (Baader ACF modified)

Exposure: 10 x 3 min, 18 x 6 min, 8 x 10 min  (unfiltered)   ISO 800 , 5 Darks each exposure time, no Flats 

Processing: Images were captured with DSLR Focus  and saved as RAW file format. Exposures were decoded and dark corrected in IRIS. Exposures were aligned and stacked in IRIS with Sigma Median.  Dark point equalization and rough color balance  were done in IRIS.  Ech exposure set was coregistered in IRIS. Gamma and saturation adjustments were also done in IRIS.  Stretch and crop adjustments were done in Photoshop.   Some star repair was performed on edge stars.  Background noise reduction was performed by PixInsight LE  (SGBNR).  Final stretching and touch up was done in PhotoShop.     Final Image size is approximately 3474x2314 - cropped to 2400x1800.

North is up in this image.  This image is guided.  M45 is also known as the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters Nebula - located in the constellation of Taurus. The object is a star cluster embedded in gaseous material resulting in a reflection nebula. The nebula material is not believed to be a remnant of the cluster formation, but instead, the cluster has encountered material from a larger molecular cloud. M45 is a relatively close cluster at a distance of 380 light years from Earth.   The Horizontal FOV is about 125 min.

Image Center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 03h 46m 59s Dec: +24°05'21"

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All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2012

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