A Brilliant Cluster in Hercules
Messier Catalog: M 92
Constellation: Hercules


This picture was an accident. Initially I had in mind to use the short summer night in June 2021 just for star gazing. But then I noticed the air was both chillier and steadier than expected. In fact, more inconvenience for star gazing and less challenges for shooting. So I changed my plans and ran 1 1/2 hours of exposure with my new optics setup, which consisted of my 8" RC telescope and a 0.80x reducer. This combination resulted in a very good compromise between brightness and magnification that is well suited for many of smaller spring season objects - both galaxies and globular star clusters. All the pictures I took so far with my 8" scope were a difficult choice between the slow original focal length or faster optics with compromise imaging quality. So I expect the new setup to become one of my favourite setups.

Seeing was excellent and focussing was perfect. If you would like to zoom into the picture at higher power, feel free to use the high resolution version instead of just clicking at the picture, which will give you only a standard resolution ready for wallpaper use.

On the observing lists M 92 is often beaten by its much more prominent neighbour, M 13.
I hope I was able to demonstrate that this cluster with all its beauty and delicate structure earns a top rank on the spring time agenda of any amateur astronomer.


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