Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Hercules (Her)  ·  Contains:  Hercules Globular Cluster  ·  IC 4617  ·  M 13  ·  NGC 6205
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Hercules Cluster (M13), Linwood Ferguson
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Hercules Cluster (M13)

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Hercules Cluster (M13), Linwood Ferguson
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Hercules Cluster (M13)

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Description

While to some extent I find globular clusters less interesting subjects, the Great Cluster in Hercules is pretty impressive. Barely visible to the naked eye, with stacked exposures not only do individual stars resolve, but the colors come through quite well.  Many of the blue stars originate from collisions of older, more red stars. This is also the target of a 1974 Arecibo message to potential ET's in the area, so expect the invasion from that direction.

This represents a pure RGB image, with 98 exposures at 240s Red, 91 at 240s in green, and 90 at 240s in Blue, for a total of about 18.6 hours of integration.  These were shot over 4 nights from my Bortle 6-7 backyard in May 2022, with a C11 EdgeHD at 2800mm and ASI6200 camera.  This is slightly less than the full frame.

I welcome criticism and suggestions

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