M22

Click on image for larger version.

M22 is a truly spectacular example of star clusters since it is very near and, as we view it, towards the center of the galaxy. Thus, when M22 is observed we see hundreds of thousands of its constituents as well as a myriad of stars in the foreground/background. The ultimate stars upon stars. M22 is estimated to be 10,000 light years away and around 65 light years across . This cluster can be seen easily in binoculars above the star atop the "teapot" asterism of Sagittarius.

Equipment

20in RC Optical Systems telescope Operating at f/5.5
Paramount ME Robotic Telescope Mount
SBIG ST10XME CCD camera with color filter wheel

L R G B color production was used to create this image.

Luminance = 10 minutes binned 1x1
 Red = 5 minutes binned 1x1
 Green = 5 minutes binned 1x1
 Blue = 10 minutes binned 1x1
  • This image suffers from optical aberrations (collimation)- future images will improve this.
  • One iteration of L-R deconvolution (sharpening) algorithm using CCDsharp was applied to the luminance image.

  • Digital Developement (DDP) via Maxim/DL was also used in order to display the the very dim and very bright details of the image simultaneously.

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    Minimum credit line: Doug Matthews/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

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    Updated: 05/13/2005