M53 in Coma Berenices
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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"
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