M41 in Canis Major

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW

Scope: Megrez II at f/5.5, Location: Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, CA   28 January 2011  Camera: Artemis285

Exposure: 9 x 3 min  (1x1 bin) exposure with UV/IR block, 8 x 2 min (2x2 bin) RGB exposures.

Processing: Images were captured  with Artemis Capture (as FITs).  Aligned/stacked and dark subtracted in Astroart with Sigma Combine.   IR / UV Blocking  filter  and Color channels were scaled and  color balanced in Astroart.  Channels were co-registered in Astroart.   Central gradient removal was performed in Astroart. Luminance channel consisted of the IR/UV blocking filter exposures.  Curves and Levels applied in Photoshop to the Luminance channel to optimize star depth.    Final LRGB combine was done in Photoshop.    Final Image size is approximately 1392 x 1040.

North is up in this image. M41 is an open cluster located in the constellation of Canis Major. It's distance from Earth is approximately 2,300 light years. There are about 100 member stars spread over about 38 arc minutes. This cluster contains several red giants. This image replaces and earlier image that can be seen in the Archives here .  Horizontal FOV is 70'

Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 06h 46m 17s Dec: -20°42'23"

Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Infrared Data Blended into M41 image

Here WISE 4.6 and 12 micrometer sensor data is blended into the RGB image of M41 - both wavelengths are "lighten" blended into Red and Green. 4.6 um is 100% green and red, 12 um is 100% red and 33% green. CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE. A BLINK COMPARISON with and without the IR data is HERE

"This publication makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration."

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

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