M34, in the constellation of Perseus, was probably first described by Giovanni Batista Hodiema in 1654 but was independently discovered by Charles Messier who included it in his catalogue in 1764. It is 1,500 light-years away and its angular size of 35 arc-minutes corresponds to a diameter of about 14 light-years. It is difficult to estimate the age of clusters, and I have seen estimates ranging from 110 to 250 million years, but the more-recent estimates tend towards the higher figures.
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M34 captured with 135 mm SLR lens. The diameter of the cluster is about 35 minutes of arc (about the size of the full Moon). The cluster as a whole has a visual magnitude of 5.2 so it should ve visible to the naked eye in a totaly dark sky. Date and Time: 12th September 2010 03.10 UT Camera: Starlight Xpress MX716 Telescope: 135 mm SLR lens at f/4 Capture: star_mx7. Exposure 60 sec and 30 sec. Processing: star_mx7. Dark and black subtraction, and enhancement. RegiStax. 18 frames stacked, histogram 131-255, PhotoImpact: Focus Magic 4,100, brightness -17, and 15% reduction. The picture covers about 2¾ by 2 degrees. |
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And a closer view captured in colour using my ST80 fitted with an X2 SLR lens and aCanon 1000D camera. . Date and Time: 16th September 2010 22.42 UT Camera: canon 1000D Telescope: ST80 with X2 SLR lens Capture: Cannon. 10, 20, 30, 60 sec exposure at ISO 1600 Processing: RegiStax. 4 frames stacked, PhotoImpact: Gamma 1.8, contrast 10, reduction to 16%, Focus Magic 1,100. The picture covers about 95 by 64 arc-minutes. |
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And an even closer view captured with my MX716 camera fitted to my ETX125 with a 0.33 focal reducer. Date and Time: 23th November 2010 22.49 to 23:04 UT Camera: Starlight Xpress MX716 Telescope: ETX125 with 0.33 focal reducer Capture: star_mx7. Exposure 10 sec. Processing: RegiStax. 20 frames stacked, PhotoImpact: Gamma 1.5, reduction to 83%, contrast and brightness +10 Focus Magic 1,100. The picture covers about 35 by 36 arc-minutes. |
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