Observation by Martin Butcher: M10 or NGC6254

Uploaded by

Stuart Morris

Observer

Martin Butcher

Observed

2012 Mar 19 - 05:02

Uploaded

2021 Aug 09 - 20:26

Objects

M10

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Constellation

Ophiuchus

Field centre

RA: 16^h57^m
Dec: -04°05'
Position angle: +21°15'

Field size

0°47' × 0°31'

Equipment

Meade LX-90 8" telescope fitted to its field tripod by an equatorial wedge.
LX-90 Periodic Error Correction enabled.
Dew Removal straps fitted to telescope and camera lens
Telescope and camera powered by Mains Power.
Stock Canon 40D with 200mm f/2.8 lens stopped down to f/4
Stock Canon 40D with 200mm f/2.8 lens stopped down to f/4

Exposure

Forty one sub-exposures each 30 seconds long taken at ISO1600. Ambient temperature minus one degree Celsius

Location

Isle of Colonsay

Target name

M10

Title

M10 or NGC6254

About this image

Messier 10 is a ball of stars that lies about 15,000 light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Ophiuchus. Approximately 80 light-years across, it should therefore appear about two thirds the size of the moon in the night sky. However, it's outer regions are extremely diffuse, and even the comparatively bright core is too dim to see with the naked eye.

Equipment used:- Stock Canon 40D mounted at Prime Focus on Meade LX-90 8” telescope (focal ratio f/10 focal length 2,000mm) with a 0.63x Focal Reducer (giving an effective focal ratio of f/6.3 and focal length of 1,279mm) fitted to its field tripod by an equatorial wedge. Telescope Polar Aligned. LX-90 Periodic Error Correction enabled. Dew Removal straps fitted to telescope and operating. Telescope driven but unguided. Telescope and camera powered by Mains Power.

Exposure details:- Forty one sub-exposures each 30 seconds long taken at ISO1600. Ambient temperature minus one degree Celsius.

Processing details:- After quality control 8 sub-exposures calibrated with Dark, Flat-field and Bias Master frames before being combined and then processed in Images Plus. Noise reduction performed in Noise Ninja and sharpening in Photoshop CS5. North is at the top. Image cropped to give field of view of 33 arc minutes x 22 arc minutes.

Narrative description:- Twenty five days after New Moon. The weather was cold, clear and calm with heavy dew. The arrival of Morning Civil Twilight meant that almost all of the later sub-exposures had to be discarded.

Files associated with this observation

MButcherNGC6254 or M10.jpg (162.1 kB)

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