NGC 2354 in Canis Major

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Scope: Megrez 80 mm APO  at f/5.8, Location: Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, CA   21 February 2012  Camera: Artemis285

Exposure: 13 x 3 min  (1x1 bin) exposure with UV/IR block, 8 x 1 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 was removed 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 1600 x 1200.

North is up in this image. This cluster, NGC 2354 is a sparse open cluster. It is located in the constellation of Canis Major. The bright star near the bottom right is a magnitude 5.91 star - SAO173193 (26 Canis Major) .  The estimated distance from Earth is 4,270 light years. .  Horizontal FOV is 67'.

Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 07h 14m 18s Dec: -25°44'00"

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

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