M 92 – Globular Cluster in Hercules

Messier 92 (M 92) is a globular cluster of stars in the constellation Hercules, about 26,740 light years from Earth.

Messier 92 (M 92) is a globular cluster of stars in the constellation Hercules, about 26,740 light years from Earth. It’s one of the brightest globular clusters in the Milky Way. These ancient, giant clusters can contain tens of thousands to millions of stars, packed tightly together in dense clumps. They can survive for billions of years and can be found throughout the halo of our Milky Way galaxy.

M 92 is a very tightly packed cluster, containing roughly 330,000 stars in total.  M92 is visible in the summer sky for observers at mid-northern latitudes. It can be seen with 10 × 50 binoculars, and a small telescope can resolve the outlying stars in the cluster.  This image was created using a f8 GSO 8 inch Ritchie Creighton telescope and a ZWO ASI071MC pro astrophotography camera.  157 60s subs imaged May 1st, 2024.  Image capture by APT Astro Photography Tool.  Image processing with PixInsight.

During our spring season here in NC I like to image galaxies and globular star clusters.  There are so many to choose from I generally am only able to spend a single night on a cluster. This one is nice.  I particularly like the Red and Yellow stars found within the image in contrast to the hot blue stars.

M 5 – Globular Cluster

M 5 – Globular Cluster in Serpens

Messier 5 (M5) (also known as NGC 5904 or the Rose Cluster) is a globular star cluster in the constellation Serpens Caput (the Serpent’s Head) that’s visible from the Northern Hemisphere. It’s one of the largest and oldest globular clusters in the Milky Way galaxy, containing over 100,000 stars in a region about 165 light-years in diameter. M5 is located 24,500 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 6.7. It appears as a patch of light with binoculars and is best viewed during July.

M5 is a good target for beginner astro-photographers and is well known among visual astronomers as one of the best clusters to observe in the night sky. A 150–200mm (six- to eight-inch) telescope can provide a memorable view, allowing you to see individual stars across a roughly 10 arcminute-sized sphere and more or less all the way down to M5’s core. M5 makes an epic imaging target, especially for long focal length telescopes. This image was taken with an 8 inch Ritchie-Creighton telescope and a ZWO ASI071MC Pro astrophotography camera. – 61 120″ images combined.

Also in this image is IC 4537, a lenticular galaxy of type S0-a in the Serpens constellation, located 736 million light-years from the solar system. It has a surface brightness of magnitude 23.9, a Right Ascension of (15 hours: 17.5 minutes) and Declination (+0.2 degrees : 02 minutes). IC 4537 is located near the celestial equator and a few miles away from the globular cluster, Messier 5. (Top enter of this image)

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