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Robert Chozick | all galleries >> Galleries >> Deep Sky Images > Owl Cluster NGC 457
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September 24, 2014

Owl Cluster NGC 457

Backyard - Plano, TX

First Image on my new AP 900 mount.

NGC 457 (also known as the Owl Cluster, the ET Cluster, or Caldwell 13) is an open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1787, and lies over 7,900 light years away from the Sun. It has an estimated age of 21 million years. The cluster is sometimes referred by amateur astronomers as the Owl Cluster, Kachina Doll Cluster, the ET Cluster (due to its resemblance to the movie character) or the "Skiing Cluster". Two bright stars, magnitude 5 Phi-1 Cassiopeiae and magnitude 7 Phi-2 Cassiopeiae can be imagined as eyes. The cluster features a rich field of about 150 stars of magnitudes 12-15. (Wikipedia)

Astro Physics 155 EDFS f/7
AP Prime Focus Field Flattener
SBIG STF-8300M CCD camera
Baader Vario Finder mounted as Guidescope
Starlight Xpress Lodestar Guider
Astro Physics 900 GTO mount

RGB 2x2 (2.5 min x 8 each)
Luminance (IDAS LPS) 1x1 5 min x 5
Guided with PHD
Captured and Stacked in Nebulosity 3
Processed in Photoshop CS5 and PixInsight full exif


other sizes: small medium large original auto