Antilhue - Chile

Messier 68
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Image Data

Designation Messier 68  (M 68),  NGC 4590,  Bennett 51
Object type Globular cluster
Coordinates 12 h 40 min    - 26° 45'   (Hya)
Description Although Messier saw no stars when he discovered it in 1780, M 68 is a large, extremely rich globular cluster located 3.5° SSE of Beta Corvi.  Shining at a combined magnitude of 8.2,  its stars resolve at mag 12-13.

Click on the image for a higher resolution version.  The field of view is  37 x 25 arcminutes with north towards the upper left.

Exposure LRGB 60:16:16:16 min @ -20°C ;  all exposures unbinned
Camera SBIG STL-11000 with Astronomik Type 2 filterset  -  selfguided
Optics RCOS 14.5" Ritchey-Chrétien @ f/9 (prime focus)
Mount Astro-Physics AP1200GTO
Software MaxIm DL/CCD,  PixInsight V.1,  Adobe Photoshop CS
Location - Date - Time San Esteban (Chile) - 09Apr2005 @ 04:30 UTC
Conditions Transparency 8,  Seeing 8, Temperature  + 8°C