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Scope: Megrez II at f/5.5, Location: Dos Picos Park, Ramona, CA 27 December 2010 Camera: Artemis285
Exposure: 9 x 3 min (1x1 bin) exposure with IR block, 8 x 3 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 1500 x 1096.
North is to the right in this image. The image was guided for all exposures. M38 is the star cluster in the upper right in this image. The smaller open cluster to the left of M38 is NGC1907. M38 is one of several Messier Open Clusters in Auriga and is often compared to its cousin M37 about 6 degrees away. M38 age is estimated slightly younger at 220 million years; its distance is estimated at 4,200 light years. NGC 1907 is older at an estimated age of 500 million years and 4,500 light years distant from Earth. An earlier image of M38 can be seen in the Archives here. Horizontal FOV is 66'.
Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: RA: 05h 28m 38s Dec: +35°32'32"