M13, The Great Hercules Globular Cluster

M13, NGC 6205, Magnitude 5.90, Size 23.2 x 23.2, Constellation: Hercules

Image Details:

• Scope: 1995 Celestron Ultima 8 OTA.
• Mount: Celestron AS-GT (goto CG5).
• Camera: Meade DSI Color.
• Configuration: f/4, Meade f/3.3 reducer, no spacers, visual back and 1.25 inch camera nosepiece.
• Effective Focal Length: .812mm.
• Exposure:  20 images @30 seconds.
• Filter: Meade IR Block.
• Acquisition: Meade Envisage. Quality = 0%.
• Guiding: None.
• Location: Pine Lake Observatory, Mobile, Alabama.
• Date: 4 June 2005.
• Post Processing: Meade IP.
• Photoshop: Unsharp Masking, Levels, JPG conversion.

Comments: Me? I think M5 is "better" than M13. M22 is too.  But I know I won't convince you. Yes, M13 is great. As far as I'm concerned, its major fault is its compressed Shapley - Sawyer classification. It's bright, but it's tight. You'll need at least a 6 inch to do much star-resolving with this one; especially under compromised skies.

M13, shining with the light of 200,000 suns, may be about 25,000 light years from our modest little home. This would make it around 150 light years in diameter.

This was one of the early reasonable images I got with the DSI. Color is not exactly right, but not bad. Focus is OK. What it mainly need is more field. And a little more of an idea of how to process DSI--or any other--CCD images! 

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