Messier 35 or M35, also known as NGC 2168, is an open cluster of stars in the west of Gemini (left part of the image). To the right there is another open cluster named NGC 2158. This cluster is believed to be ~2 billion years old (!). Even if the two open clusters are “close” they are not related – their distance is about 9000 ly.
The image is also available in full resolution here.
 | Date | 2015/02/19 |
 | Location | Böblingen / Germany |
 | Object | Messier 35 cluster |
 | Camera | Atik383L+ |
 | Guiding | yes, QHY5-II Mono via OAG |
 | Telescope | 8 |
 | Barlow lens | none |
 | Mount | EQ6 Syntrek |
 | Cooling | -15°C |
 | Luminance | 11x, 600s, bin: 1x1 |
 | Red | 9x, 150s, bin: 2x2 |
 | Green | 9x, 150s, bin: 2x2 |
 | Blue | 9x, 150s, bin: 2x2 |
 | Dark | 5x |
 | Flat | 10x |
 | Total exposure | ~2h57min. |