Messier 11 - The Wild Duck Cluster
Taken by Tom Wildoner on September 19, 2025 @
Weatherly, PA, USA
Click photo for larger image
| |
Camera Used: Unavailable Unavailable
Exposure Time: Unavailable
Aperture: Unavailable
ISO: Unavailable
Date Taken: 2025:11:27 17:34:23
|
|
| More images
Details:
Messier 11, also known as the Wild Duck Cluster and NGC 6705, is one of the richest and most compact open star clusters in the Milky Way. Located in the constellation Scutum about 6,000 light-years from Earth, it contains several thousand stars packed into a relatively small region, giving it an appearance more akin to a loose globular cluster than a typical open cluster. Its brightest stars form a pattern that early observers thought resembled a flock of ducks in flight, inspiring its nickname. With an estimated age of around 250 million years, M11 hosts many hot, young, blue-white stars as well as a scattering of red giants.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at -10F, 81 x 60 second exposures, Celestron CGX-L pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: September 19, 2025. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Photographer's website:
https://www.thedarksideobservatory.com
|
|
|
