SBIG ST-4000XCM
4x600sec
Darks/Flats/Bias Applied
Imager Temp -10C
APM/TMB 130/780
Field Flattener
40% Crop

Link to Larger JPEG

Thin clouds intervened in all frames then stopped imaging altogether.

M80 (NGC 6093) is a globular cluster in the constellation Scorpius. It is among the more densely populated globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. It's distance from the Sun is 32,600 light years, and distance from galactic center is 12,400 light years. It's diameter is 84 light years.

M80 contains a relatively large amount of blue stragglers, stars that appear to be much younger than the cluster itself. It is thought these stars have lost part of their outer layers due to close encounters with other cluster members or perhaps the result of collisions between stars in the dense cluster. Images from the Hubble Space Telescope have shown districts of very high blue straggler densities, suggesting that the center of the cluster is likely to have a very high capture and collision rate.

June 22, 2009