Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Scorpius (Sco)  ·  Contains:  B286  ·  B287  ·  M 7  ·  NGC 6453  ·  NGC 6475  ·  PK355-04.1  ·  PK355-04.2  ·  PK356-04.1  ·  Ptolemy cluster  ·  Ptolemy's Cluster
M7 - Ptolemy's Cluster, lefty7283
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M7 - Ptolemy's Cluster

M7 - Ptolemy's Cluster, lefty7283
Powered byPixInsight

M7 - Ptolemy's Cluster

Equipment

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Acquisition details

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Description

This is probably my new favorite cluster that I've shot. I decided to knock out 4 of the low declination Messier clusters in one night. Being on a beach facing south really helped out with the light pollution, and I only needed so sink a half hour into each of the clusters, compared to the hour I'd normally do from my bortle 7 apartment roof. Unfortunately my guide camera refused to talk to my laptop, so my telescope was at the mercy of the wind. I'm really surprised with how well this turned out, even with my blue stack being affected by haze. Captured on June 25th, 2020 from a Bortle 4 zone.

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**[Equipment:](https://i.imgur.com/6T8QNsv.jpg)**

* TPO 6" F/4 Imaging Newtonian

* Orion Sirius EQ-G

* ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro

* Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

* ZWO EFW 8x1.25"/31mm

* Astronomik LRGB+CLS Filters- 31mm

* Astrodon 31mm Ha 5nm, Oiii 3nm, Sii 5nm

* ~~Agena 50mm Deluxe Straight-Through Guide Scope~~

* ~~ZWO ASI-120MC for guiding~~

* Moonlite Autofocuser

**Acquisition:** 24.5 minutes (Camera at Unity Gain, -15°C)

* Lum- 25x30"

* Red- 8x30""

* Green- 9x30"

* Blue- 7x30"

* Darks- 30

* Flats- 30 per filter

**Capture Software:**

* Captured using [N.I.N.A.](https://nighttime-imaging.eu/) ~~and PHD2 for guiding and dithering.~~

**[PixInsight Processing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6vj_SEZ79k):**

* BatchPreProcessing

* StarAlignment

* [Blink](https://youtu.be/sJeuWZNWImE?t=40)

* ImageIntegration

* DynamicCrop

* AutomaticBackgroundExtraction 2X

* **Luminance:**

* TGV/MMT Noise Reduction

* ArcsinhStretch

* HistogramTransformation

* **RGB:**

* LinearFit to green

* ChannelCombination

* AutomaticBackgroundExtraction



* PhotometricColorCalibration

* SCNR

* HSVRepair

* ArcsinhStretch

* HistogramTransformation

* LRGBCombination with Lum

* CurveTransformations

* HistogramTransformation

* UnsharpMask

* MorphologicalTransformation to reduce star sizes

* Invert>SCNR>Invert

* More Curves

* Annotation

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