M11 – The Wild Duck Cluster
Sketch and Details by Carlos Hernandez
I was able to observe one of my favorite open clusters M11 (NGC 6705) in Scutum on August 9, 2008 (5:00 U.T.). This magnificent open cluster appears as an explosion of jewels in space. This spectacular collection of stars has an estimated 2,900 members of which 500 are brighter than 14th magnitude. It lies at an estimated distance of between 220 to 250 million light years. I made the observation using my 9-inch (23-cm) F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain at 78x.
A digital image made using Photoshop CS3.
Links:
http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sct/index.html
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030122.html
http://www.maa.clell.de/Messier/E/m011.html
Carlos
Carlos,
A glorious sketch of a daunting cluster!!
Excellent work.
I find M11 intimidating in even a 4″ scope, let alone your aperture.
Rony
Carlos,
Messier 11 is certainly a great summertime scintillating star cluster target. You have captured its beauty perfectly.
Frank