M38
Condensed Open Cluster in Auriga

 

            
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 The
            northernmost of the Messier Trio of M36, M37, and M38, this moderately
            rich open cluster beams at 6.4 magnitude and spans 21 arcminutes
            in width. While the galactic obscuration tends to redden the
            faint stars in this field, some of the blue light from the dozens
            of blue super giants forms a base skeleton for this object, with
            a sprinkling of over a dozen orange K super giants on top. Visually,
            you can see curving chains and branches in this object, some
            of that can be imagined here in this image.
Optics:  12.5" f/5 Newtonian  - Lumicon Coma Corrector
Platform:  Astrophysics AP1200
Camera:  Hutech Modified Canon XTi @ ISO800
Exposure:  3 x 5m
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  8/10, Transparency 8/10  
Outside Temperature:  35F
Processing Tools:  Photoshop CS2, Images Plus 3.82
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