Althought not often photographed, this area in Auriga is very rich in objects. Four open clusters and two emission nebulae are visible in the picture above. M38 (NGC1912) is an open cluster containing 220 stars that is visible at right center. Just below is NGC1907, another o.c. formed by about 40 stars. The pair has some resemblances with M35 and NGC2158 in Gemini. At left center is M36 (NGC1960), a third open cluster, that contains about 90 stars. At lower center is Stock 8, the fourth open cluster represented on the picture. This is formed by 45 stars, and is embedded in an emission area that has the same catalog number. Just at left is NGC1931, another compact emission nebula.

Exposure : two 35 min. negatives scanned with Polaroid Sprintscan 35+, blended in Picture Window 2.0 and enhanced with Photoshop 4.0


Telescope : Takahashi FS-102 at F/6 with focal reducer on a Losmandy G11


Guiding : ST4 on a Vixen 80/910mm.


Film : unhypered Kodak Multispeed PJM-2


Location : Piano di Nivolet (Val d'Aosta) - 2600mt. height


Date : October 09, 1999