M11 in Scutum - Widefield
Canon 30D Unmodified
15x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Orion ED80 with WO 0.8 reducer/flattener
One of the richest and most compact of the galactic (open) clusters, M11 contains an estimated 2900 stars, about 500 of which are brighter than mag 14. An observer at the center of M11 would see several hundred first magnitude stars.
This field is particularly rich, including dark nebulas Barnard 111 and 119 as crescents above M11. Barnard 114 through 117 as a chain of dark nebulas below and to the left, and the darker spot B118 at the bottom left-center edge. B112 is directly below M11 and B108 is to the right.
Open cluster Basel 1 is located upper right.
There are no less than 8 planetary nebulae in this field as well.
Distance from earth is 6000 light years.
July 14, 2007