M48 in Hydra

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW (1800x1345)

Scope: FSQ-106N at f/5 Location: Laguna Mountains, CA   16 February 2013  Camera: Artemis285

Exposure: 16 x 3 min  (1x1 bin) exposure and 11 x 1.5 min exposures with UV/IR block, 10 x 1.5 min (1x1 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 1800x1345.

North is up in this image. M48 is an open cluster in the constellation of Hydra. This cluster has approximately 80 members; 50 are brighter than magnitude 13. It's age is estimated at about 300 million years. It's  distance is estimated to be between 1,500 to 2,500 light years.  This image replaces an earlier image that can be seen in the Archives here. Horizontal FOV is 55'

Image Center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 08h 13m 44s Dec: -05°48'48"

All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2013

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