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M53 in Coma Berenices

 

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW  (2000x1500)

Scope: Celestron 9.25 Edge 235 mm at f/7, Location: Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, CA  7 March 2014  Camera: ST8300M

Exposure: 8 x 3.5 min  (1x1 bin)  and 5 x 8.5 min (1x1 bin) exposure with UV/IR block, 8 x 2.5 min (2x2 bin) RGB exposures.

Processing: Data Collection -  CCDSoft (as FITs).  Calibrated, stacked (Sigma Kappa Combine) in Deep Sky Stacker, LRGB channel registration, central gradient removal, and color equalization - Astroart.  Curves, Levels, LRGB combine and finishing  - Photoshop.  Color calibration using eXcalibrator. This image is a LRGB combine with Luminance layering -   Final Image size is approximately 2000x1500.

North is up in this image.  M53 is a globular cluster in the Constellation of Coma Berenices. It is one of the more outlying globular clusters in our Milky Way galaxy. It is  about 60,000 light years distant from Earth. A close by neighbor is another globular cluster catalogued as NGC5053. There are 5 galaxies detectable in this field under magnitude 18 ( 2MASX J13125756+1803068 mag 16.9 and  2MASX J13124494+1803399 mag 17.0). These faint galaxies are both just below M53 and just above and to the right of the bright red and blue stars . Their red shift distances are about 1.1 and 1.7 billion light years distant respectively. A wide field image sowing both M53 and NGC5053 can be seen here. This image of M53 replaces and earlier image that can be seen in the Archives here .  Horizontal FOV is 38

Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 13h 12m 55s Dec: +18°10'11"

 

All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2014

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