M 55 Globular Cluster in Sagittarius

Messier 55 (NGC6809) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Sagittarius.. It was discovered by Nicolas Louis Lacaille 1752 while observing from South Africa. Charles Mesiier made several attempts to find this object from Paris, France, but the low declination meant it never rose sufficiently far above the horizon to allow for easy observation. He finally observed and catalogued it in 1778. The cluster can be seen with a pair of 50 mm binoculars, although resolving the individual stars requires a medium-sized telescope.

M55 is at a distance of about 17,600 light years 

RA: 19h 39m 59.40s  Dekl.:−30° 57′ 43.5″   Apparent size: 19  arcmin.

Image details:  L = 8x1200s  RGB = 8x1200s each

80cm f/7 ASTROOPTIK Keller corrected cassegrain, FLI Proline 16803, Baader LRGB-filters, Promt7, CTIO/UNC Chile

Image processing:Bernd Flach-Wilken

 

below is a 80% cropped image field:

click for 80% size

Last modified on Sunday, 11 October 2015 23:47

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