Object: This open cluster of stars, known as Collinder 26 or Melotte 15, contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of the Sun and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of the Sun’s mass. It is part of the core of the Heart Nebula (also known as the Running dog nebula, IC 1805, Sharpless 2-190) emission nebula, 7500 light years away from Earth and located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia..
Taken: November 21, 2022
Telescope: Astro-Tech 14” RC with Starizona Apex ED 0.65x reducer
Mount: Paramount ME II unguided
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro (cooled to 0C; Gain: 100) Bin 1×1.
Focuser: Moonlite Nitecrawler
Rotator: Moonlite Nitecrawler
Filters used: Chroma Ha, OIII and SII 3nm 2″
Exposures: Ha: 126×90; OIII: 11×90; S-II: 99×90 seconds for a total exposure time of 8.4 hours; calibrated with 40 dark frames, 40 flat frames with 40 dark flat frames.
Seeing Conditions:
Image capture and telescope control: Nighttime Imaging ‘N’ Astronomy with (N.I.N.A.) / TheSkyX Pro with a SkyShed POD MAX observatory.
Processed with PixInsight, Photoshop CC 2022