Globular Cluster M3 |
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| M13 is the showcase globular cluster of the
Northern Hemisphere. It is the biggest and brightest of the
globulars, at least from our point of view in the Northern
Hemisphere, though it is overshadowed in both size and
brightness by Omega Centauri in the Southern Hemisphere. It was
the target of our own vesion of SETI: in 1974, as part of the
dedication of the Arecibo radio telescope, a message was transmitted to M13. M13 packs several hundred thousand stars into a sphere only 145 light-years across. Like most (if not all) globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way, its stars are also very old (about 10 - 12 billion years). This hints that at least for our galaxy, globular clusters are the oldest structures. Recent studies show that this is not the case with other galaxies. M31 for instance, has globular clusters as young as 500 million years! (Source: Robert Gendler). M13 was one of my very first targets when I first tried out astronomical CCD imaging. In fact, it may have been my first target. I've imaged it at least one other time in 2005. |
| Object: M13 |
| Constellation: Hercules |
| When Visible: May - October |
| Distance: 25,000 Light-years |
| Date: May 2006 |
| Location: West Chester, Ohio |
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Exposure Details: L: 5 x 5 Minutes Binned 1x1 R: 6 x 5 Minutes Binned 1x1 G: 6 x 5 Minutes Binned 1x1 B: 6 x 5 Minutes Binned 1x1 |
| Equipment Used: Takahashi FSQ-106N at f/8 with an Extender-Q on a Takahashi EM200 Temma-II mount. SBIG ST-8XE camera with CFW-8a filter wheel and Astrodon filters. Self-guided. |
| Acquisition Software : MaximDL, TheSky6 |
| Processing Software: MaximDL, Adobe Photoshop CS, GradientXterminator Plug-in, IrFanView |