M25 Cluster - Heart of the Galaxy

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

Here's a rendition of the M25 cluster. This is a challenging object, being an Open Cluster located ~2,000 light-years away from Earth, spanning about 19 light years across. The field here is so packed because the cluster is nestled in the rich star fields of Sagittarius, towards the heart of the Galaxy.

Taken using an ED80T CF astrograph with a Sony NEX-3 DSLR.

30 x 3 min subs (guided).

Pre-processed with flats, bad pixel map and bias in Nebulosity. Post-processed in StarTools.

Full details and high rez version here: http://www.astrobin.com/110631/

Also attached is my "benchmark" image of the same area, as shown in "Imaging the Southern Sky" book (my bible whilst I'm learning AP).

Comments?

[nebulosity. (Jo)]

Thats really nice Barry, could be a bit greenish and washed out?

I added some blue and dropped the greens a tad, what do you think of that?

Very nice sharp image.

Cheers
Jo

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

I like it Jo - thanks! I think this improves it, and you've definitely motivated me to tinker more with the colours of the original.

The green tinge is likely the residual sky pollution glow. You should have seen the pre-processed version!

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Very sweet image Barry. I like Jo's repo too.

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

Here is a revised version, with the green tinge warmed.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Oooo pretty! There's a lot of stars there, and not just in the cluster

[LightningNZ (Cam)]

Gorgeous image. Hardly ever see photos of this cluster, which is a shame considering how pretty the field is.
-Cam