This image is one of many that I’ve taken of the Hercules Cluster. It took a while to improve my acquisition and processing on the dense core of stars by taking shorter and shorter exposures. The core still may be a little too bright, but I was quite happy to get the propeller to resolve in it. The contrasting star colours and several small galaxies that are also picked up in the field of view make it very pleasing to look at.
- Taken – August 13th, 2022 in Rockwood ON
- 1 hour and 41.5 minutes – 203x30s lights, 60 flats, 60 dark flats, and 50 darks
- William Optics Zenithstar 81 with an asi294mc pro camera, gain 120, UV/IR filter, cooled to -10
- Flattener and .8x reducer
- EQ6R-PRO with wo50mm guide scope and asi120mm guide camera
- Asiair pro used for image acquisition
- EAF used for focus
- Pixinsight used for stacking and image processing