Object Type: Open Cluster
Constellation: Scutum
Magnitude: 6.3
Size: 14'

M11 is commonly known as the Wild Duck Cluster because its angular shape resmbles a flock of ducks. It has a very dense and rich appearance for an open cluster and is 6,000 light-years from our solar system.

Equipment: 14" Meade LX200R/ST-10XME/Astrodon LRGB filters/Paramount ME
F-ratio: f/6.5
Exposures: LRGB: L 8 x 5 minutes, binned 2x2: R 8 x 5 minutes: G 8 x 5 minutes: B 8 x 5 minutes: RGB binned 3x3
Date: August 17, 2007
Location: Landers, California, USA
Technical Notes: Individual exposures were obtained using CCDAutoPilot2 and then sigma combined. The RGB image was created in Registar 1.0. Unsharp Mask of 1 pixel with a Threshold of 1 was applied to the Luminance image at 50%, and a Gaussian Blur of 0.5 pixel was applied to the RGB image.