M7

M7LRGB(500).jpg (268847 bytes)

Higher-resolution versions: 1280 x 1024 1680 x 1050 4008 x 2672

M7LRGBCrop(500).jpg (180739 bytes)

33% resolution crop of central portion.

Object Type: Open cluster
Constellation: Scorpius
Magnitude: 3.3
Size: 80'

M7 is a very large and bright open cluster that is easily visible to the naked eye. It is located about 80 light-years from our solar system.

Equipment: Vixen 102-ED/TS Optics field flattener/STL-11000M/Astrodon LRGB filters/Paramount ME
F-ratio: f/6.5
Exposures: LRGB: L 8 x 3 minutes: R 8 x 3 minutes: G 8 x 3 minutes: B 8 x 3 minutes: RGB binned 2x2
Date: June 19, 2010
Location: Landers, California, USA
Technical Notes: Individual exposures were dithered using CCDAutoPilot2 and then sigma combined. The RGB image was created in Registar 1.0. Gaussian Blur was applied to the RGB image.