This was the best 17 frames from 31 taken Friday night same problems as my M16 shot. Only 1 minute exposures suggest probably 2-3 minute exposures or more are the go with this as only vis mag 7.2, I'll know better for next time when the conditions are better.
Target: M80 Globular Cluster NGC6093
Camera: Canon 350d modified,
Exposure Capture: DLSR Focus
Scope: GSO 8” RC
Mount: EQ6 Pro
Exposure Setting: Prime focus, ISO800 ICNR off Daylight WB
Exposure: 17 x 1minute taken 29/05/09 between 7:00 and 9:00 pm
Seeing: Poor, fair amount LP, moon setting, windy 15kph, smoke haze
Guiding: Orion Starshoot Autoguider using PHD
Focus: DSLR Focus
Stacking: DSS, 10 darks, 10 flats (darks/flats from prev session)
Processing: PS7, adj levels, curves, noise pollution removal, brightness etc
Info: Situated in the Scorpius
Right ascension 16h 17m 02.51s Declination -22° 58′ 30.4” Distance 32.6 kly (10 kpc) Apparent magnitude (V) +7.87[1] Apparent dimensions (V) 10′.0 Physical characteristics Mass kg ( M ) Radius 48 ly
Discovered by Charles Messier in 1781.
M80 is located midway between α Scorpii (Antares) and β Scorpii in a field in the Milky Way that is rich in nebulae. It can be viewed with modest amateur telescopes as a mottled ball of light. With an apparent diameter of about 10' and at an estimated distance of 32,600 light-years, M80's spatial diameter is about 95 light-years and contains several hundred thousand stars. It is among the more densely populated globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. M80 contains a relatively large amount of blue stragglers, stars that appear to be much younger than the cluster itself. It is thought these stars have lost part of their outer layers due to close encounters with other cluster members or perhaps the result of collisions between stars in the dense cluster. Images from the Hubble Space Telescope have shown districts of very high blue straggler densities, suggesting that the center of the cluster is likely to have a very high capture and collision rate.
On May 21, 1860, a nova was discovered in M80 that attained a magnitude of +7.0. The nova, variable star designation T Scorpii, reached an absolute magnitude of -8.5, briefly outshining the entire cluster.
probably help if you can team up with someone local who has a few years under thier belt who has been through all this before, i know, im continually learning new things and rely upon advice from others often.
