Messier 92 is one of the few celestial objects that looks as good through the eyepiece as it does photographed. This is one of my summertime favorites as it is high in the sky, in Hercules, in July. Many compare it to the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (M13), though this cluster is much smaller and less appreciated. Despite that, it does contain about 400,000 solar masses and is believed to be nearly as old as the universe itself. It also has an eccentric orbit around the galactic core and it's expected that in about 14,000 years it will lie within one degree of the celestial north pole.
Photo Details
July 16, 2014
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
Autoguider
11 sub-frames at 3.0 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 33 minutes
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop
