M13 - The Great Cluster in Hercules
Description: M13 the Great Cluster is in the constellation of Hercules. This image was taken on August 23, 2008 from the Oregon Star Party.
Equipment: The image was taken with an 8" Meade LX200ACF telescope on a Celestron CGE mount. The camera was an SBIG ST10XME with an Astro-Physics .67 Telecompressor and Astrodon filters. The guide scope and camera were an AstroTech AT66ED refractor with an SBIG remote guide head attached to the ST10. Focusing was done with an Optec TCF-S focuser with temperature compensation turned off.
Exposures: 11x180 seconds luminance binned 1x1; 5x180 seconds each red, green and blue exposures binned 2x2.
Processing: Bias, dark & flat calibration, image registration & color registration were done in Maxim/DL. Curves, levels, LRGB combination, zone sharpening & noise reduction were done in Photoshop CS2. Gradient processing was done with GradientXTerminator.
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