Object Information:

 

Messier 11 (NGC 6705)  "Wild Duck Cluster"
Distance -  6,000 light years

The dense grouping of stars forming Messier 11 is is known as an open cluster [sometimes also known as a "galactic cluster"].   Open clusters are believed to originate in the same general area of space from the same local gas clouds.  The dense grouping of stars seen above are all about the same approximate distance from us.  It is believed that eventually the component stars of open clusters slowly drift apart and disperse.

Messier 11 is one of the richest and most compact of the open clusters.  The cluster contains an estimated 2,900 individual stars and is believed to have formed approximately 220 million years ago.

M11 was discovered by the German astronomer Gottfried Kirch of the Berlin observatory in 1681. It was apparently first resolved into stars by William Derham about 1733. Charles Messier included it in his catalog on May 30, 1764.

For more information on open star clusters see:

http://www.seds.org/messier/open.html

http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m011.html

  Imaged at: 

 

Little Blair Valley, San Diego County, CA

  Equipment:  

 

Optics - Takahashi MT-200 at f/4.8
Mount - Astro-Physics 900 GTO,
Camera - Santa Barbara Instrument Group (SBIG) ST-2000XM CCD,

  Exposure Information:

 

July 18, 2004

 

RGB Image - R - 21 sec., G - 12 sec., B - 15 sec., Each color component is a median combination of 10 sub-exposures. 

  Camera Control Software:

 

MaxIm Dl 4

  Image Processing Software:

 

Image calibration and registration with Mira 6; RGB combination in MaxIm DL; final processing in Photoshop 8