M80

Click on image for larger version.

The globular cluster has the distinction of being one of the most concentrated in out galaxy. You will notice that many of the globular clusters displayed in this galaxy contain many blue and yellow stars. In general the blue stars are either stars whose cooler envelopes (yellow) have been stripped away to reveal the hotter interiors, or close interactions between stars result in larger hotter ones. Although this image does not portray the above- there are plenty of bluish stars in the core of this cluster. This cluster is estimated to be 26,000 light years away and perhaps 70 light years in diameter.

Equipment

Meade 16in LX200 telescope operating at f/6.3
SBIG ST8E CCD camera with color filter wheel

L R G B color production was used to create this image.

Luminance = 30 minutes binned 1x1
 Red = 3 minutes binned 2x2
 Green = 3 minutes binned 2x2
 Blue = 6 minutes binned 2x2
  • One iteration of L-R deconvolution (sharpening) algorithm using CCDsharp was applied to the luminance image.

  • Digital Developement (DDP) via Maxim/DL was also used in order to display the the very dim and very bright details of the image simultaneously.

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    Minimum credit line: Tom Boerner and David Young/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

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    Updated: 3/28/2001