Sky this Week

NGC 6229 is a faint, 9th magnitude, globular cluster in Hercules with a compact central core and some granulation appearing in the outer halo.

Image taken June 20, 2006 at 05:33 UT, Louisville, CO with Celestron Nexstar11, AptAstro wedge, Meade F3.3 focal reducer, and Astrovid Stellacam II video camera, gain 9/14, integerate 128 , and medium gamma. Temperature was 68°F, no wind, partly cloudy,  transparency good,  and turbulence was 5/10. Dark subtracted, flat field and bias corrected.

The M92 globular cluster in the constellation Hercules is not as impressive as its neighbor M13, but it is still a great object. The core is bright and very compact and surrounded by an outer core.

Image taken June 20, 2006 at 05:33 UT at Louisville, CO with Celestron Nexstar11 on AptAstro wedge, Meade F3.3 focal reducer, and Astrovid Stellacam II video camera at 128 integration (4.25 sec), medium gamma, 9/14 gain. Weather was party cloudy, temperature 68°F, transparency good, no wind.  10 min video was dark subtracted, flat field and bias corrected, aligned and stacked with Registax3.

Messier 5, located in constellation Serpens Caput, is an impressive globular. It appears to be slightly elliptical in the NNE to SSW direction.

Image taken with Celestron Nexstar11, F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera. Clear, 62 °F, transparency very good, no wind, turbulence 5/10.

One of my favorite objects to visit is the Hercules globular cluster M13. It is a stunning object to view when you are at a dark sky site and the sky is transparent.

Below image taken from light polluted metro Denver with a Celestron Nexstar11 telescope, Meade F3.3 focal reducer, and Astrovid Stellacam II video camera. Intregration set at 128 (4.25 sec), gain 9/14, and medium gamma. Stacked from 20 minutes of video, dark subtracted, flat field and bias corrected. Sky was clear, temperature was 56 °F, no wind, transparency very good, and turbulence fair (5 to 6/10).