M46 & M47
Open Clusters in Puppis
(Image
Centered at ra:
07:39 / dec -14º 33')
CLICK IN THE IMAGE FOR A HIGHER RESOLUTION
VIEW
February
2012,
Complejo La Aldea
in Villa de Merlo
San Luis, Argentina
DATA
TYPE: Open Clusters
V mag: M47 4.4; M46 6.1; NGC
2423 6.7
SIZE: approximate FOV 2º 45' x 2º
10
DISTANCE: M46 5400 light years
and M47 5200 light years
OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION
M46 (below center left) and M47
(upper center right) are two bright clusters in the constellation of Puppis.
They are relative separated by a bit more than one degree. Both clusters where
independently discovered by Charles Messier after its first edition of his 45
object list. M46 is a very rich cluster and it also contains planetary nebula
NGC 2438 which can be seen in the image as a small green disk. The nebula
is not part of M46; it position is seen only in perspective. M47 is also
brighter than his companion, however the main bright stars are not part of the
cluster. Both objects can be well seen through binoculars o low power
telescopes. At the right of M47 we have NGC 2423 with a magnitude of 6.7 and an
apparent diameter of 12 arc minutes. Below left from M 47 is visible NGC 2425
with only 4 arc minutes.
IMAGE INFORMATION
SCOPE:
William Optics ZenithStar 66 f4.8
MOUNT: Sky Watcher NEQ6
SKY CONDITIONS:
Transparency and seeing good
CAMERA: QSI 583 WS -10Cº
FILTERS: Baader Luminance + and
RGB set
EXPOSURES:
LRGB (20,20,20,20)
GUIDING:
Celestron SCT 8" working
at f10
Starlight Xpress Lodestar Camera. PHD Guiding
PROCESSING:
Images Plus (Dark substraction Sigma Median Combination);
CCD Sharp; NASA Photoshop Fits Liberator, Photoshop CS