M19 in Ophiuchus

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW (2800x2100)

Scope: Mak-Newt 152 mm  f/4.8, Location: Laguna Mountains, CA,   13 June 2010  Camera: ST8300M

Exposure:  15 x 2 min  UV/IR Block Luminance (1x1),  8 x 1 min RGB exposures (2x2).

Processing: Images were captured with CCDSoft. Aligned/stacked and dark subtracted in Astroart ; Sigma Combine method was used for stacking subs.  All channels were scaled and rough color balanced in Astroart.  Central Gradient removal  was done in Astroart. Channels were co-registered in Astroart.   The  2 minute luminance exposures  were used for the main luminance construction with level adjustments and curves to bring out object features.  LRGB combine was done in Photoshop.  Bright area exclusion on some portions of Levels, Curves, and Saturation was to avoid core over brightening.  A light background noise reduction was applied in PixInsight LE (SGBNR).   A light sharpening was done on the luminance channel. Final touches and color balance in Photoshop. Final Image size is approximately 3352x2532 (resized to 2800x2100).

North is up in this image. M19 is located in the constellation of Ophiuchus. This object is a Globular Cluster - most of which are round. M19 however is somewhat elliptical in shape (top to bottom). This deformation of the cluster from the globular shape may have to do with its proximity to the Galactic Center - it is a relatively close distance of 5,200 light years from the galaxy's central core.  M19 is approximately 28,000 light years distant from Earth. This image replaces an earlier image of this region and can be seen in the Archives here.    Horizontal FOV is 88 arc minutes.

Image center is located approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 17h 02m 36s Dec: -26°16'00"

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

Current Web Total Hits -

^{- Unique Visitors}