Clusters

1 In May 2016 I had the privilege to attend the Texas Star Party. The TSP provides some of the darkest pristine skies for a star party in the US. While there I was able to image a few of Southern objects that are not visible to me in Ohio. Here is my interpretation of NGC 5139 aka Omega Centauri. This spectacular globular cluster has more than 10 million stars clustered in a ball 150 light-years in diameter and is a relatively very bright object. Because of this it can be seen easily with a small aperture telescope and even binoculars. Omega Centauri is about 15,500 light years distant and is the largest globular cluster in our galaxy. This image is composed of 11 2-minute images through Red, Green, Blue and Luminance filters for a total of about an hour and a half exposure time Date:5/3/16 Location: Texas Star Party, Fort Davis, TX Mount: Paramount MX Camera: SBIG ST10 XME Optics: TeleVue NP 127 Exposure: L=R=G=B = 11x120 secs Processing: PixInsight	2 In late Summer the constellation of Hercules rides high in the sky bringing within it two beautiful globular clusters M13 and M92. For some reason I have always preferred M92 and here is my latest interpretation of it. Captured in July 2015 M92 from my observatory in Hutville. M92 is about 26,700 light-years distant. Date:7/25/15 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: L=R=G=B = 6x600 secs Processing: PixInsight	3 There is no such thing as a Southern Celestial Pole star like Polaris for the Northern hemisphere. This star trail image that I took at The OzSky Star Safari in Coonabarabra, NSW Australia in late April 2015 shows the location of the Southern Celestial Pole. It integrates a total of 25 minutes of exposure using a Canon T5i. Date:4/22/15 Location: Oz Sky Star Safari, Coonabarabra, NSW Australia Mount: Astrotrac (not tracking) Camera: Canon T5i Optics: Canon 70-200 f/2.8 + 1.4x Teleconverter at 98mm f/4 Exposure: 10x150 secs Processing: PixInsight	4 Seven Sisters
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