CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW
Scope: C8 f/4.3; Location: Del Mar, CA;
28 June 2006; Camera: Artemis285
Exposure: 12 x 60 sec Luminance exposures with UV/IR Block Filter, 8 x 45 sec RGB
Processing: Images were captured Artemis Capture (as FITs). Aligned/stacked in Registax
3 and saved as FITS. Luminance and Color channels were scaled and rough color balanced in
Astroart. Central Gradient was removed in Astroart. Channels were co-registered in
Astroart. Curves and Levels were applied in Photoshop to optimize object
appearance. Final LRGB combine was done in Photoshop using Luminance Layering (or
LLRGB). G2V and atmospheric extinction color correction and final touches were done in Photoshop. SGBNR was used to smooth background noise on the
final result.
Final Image size is approximately 1392x1040.
This image was guided; North is up. M4 is a relatively close globular
cluster in the constellation of Scorpius - it is a distance of about 7,200 light
years from Earth. M4 is a "loose" globular cluster in that its' core
is not tightly packed with stars. It would be a more spectacular object in our
skies if it were not for the interstellar dust that obscures this object. This
dust also accounts for the reddish hue of this cluster. The dust obscure shorter
blue wavelengths more heavily than the longer red wavelengths. M4 is located
about 1.3 degrees West of the bright star Antares. A
closer in view of M4 is in the archives here;
Horizontal FOV is 36'
Image Center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 16h 23m 36s Dec: -26°31'29"