Taking Aim at the Wild Duck Cluster

The Wild Duck Cluster

The Wild Duck Cluster (NGC 6705)
Sketch by Janis Romer, text by Frank McCabe

The Wild Duck Cluster (NGC 6705)

Messier 11 or the wild duck open cluster as it is frequently called is a dense open cluster in the constellation of Scutum. A portion of this cluster is reminiscent of a flock of ducks flying in classic “V” formation. There are nearly 3,000 suns in this cluster, including many giants of all classes. The cluster is estimated to be 250 million years old and like most galactic cluster lies in the plane of the Milky Way.
This cluster was discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1681 and it was added to Charles Messier’s famous catalog in 1764.
This sketch was made using a Criterion 8” f/8 Newtonian reflector telescope

M 11 (NGC 6705)
Visual mag. 6
Aprox. Distance: 5 kly
Apparent Size: 13 arc min.
RA 18h 51m
Dec – 6° 16′

One thought on “Taking Aim at the Wild Duck Cluster”

  1. Very interesting sketch , I have seen and sketched this myself , lots and lots of stars in a wild whirl. Difficult to do , really good depiction.

    Deirdre

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