Obscured Globuar Cluster Terzan 9 and Surrounds

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Hi All,

I just can't resist an obscure globular so had a go at Terzan 9 again (which I imaged before with the ToUCam) but I didn't realise until now just how beautiful a field it lies in! There are some nice streaks of dark dust across the area, and I found 2 planetary nebulae in the image too which was a nice bonus.
I didn't process the data until now because it was actually taken under moonlight on 29th May so I thought it might not yield much but I was certainly mistaken. I'm surprised how much the camera picks up even with the Moon nearby
I'm still experimenting with the spacing for the coma corrector, so stars in the corners are not perfect but fairly close.

Link to large version (70% scale, 2MB) is here: http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/image/144014839/original

Image details:
Date: 29th May 2012
Exposure: LRGB: 80:25:25:25m, total 2hrs 35mins
Telescope: 10" Serrurier Truss Newtonian
Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
Filters: Astrodon LRGB E-Series Gen 2

About the image:
This image shows the heavily obscured globular cluster Terzan 9 in Sagittarius. It has been determined that Terzan 9 lies within the Milky Way's central bulge at a distance of 23,000 light years. Shining with a magnitude of 16 this cluster is a difficult target in most amateur telescopes, but it is relatively easy to photograph. The cluster is significantly reddened and heavily obscured by the massive interstellar dust clouds in the direction of the Milky Way centre. A solid dark dust lane nearly covers the cluster but still its faint combined glow of thousands of stars reach us from a place near the galactic centre.
Also visible in the upper right is the bright blue planetary nebula IC4653 at a distance of 10,500 light years. A little below IC4653 another tiny purple planetary nebula is seen; ESO 521-14 which at 27,000 light years lies much further away than even Terzan 9.

Hope you enjoy, comments and critique is welcome as always.

Regards,
Rolf

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Very nicely done! Have you tried UKS1 yet?

Cheers

Steve

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

That's a great shot Rolf I really like it lovely subtle mix of colours and features. Terzan clusters are great to hunt down visually too, I remember I bagged a few with my 12" SCT some years ago.

Mike

[LightningNZ (Cam)]

Such cool object you guys go for! There is a lot of really way out work being posted here lately.

Thanks Rolf - awesome image. I love those tiny planetary nebula gems in these deep shots.

Cheers,
Cam

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Originally Posted by Stevec35

Very nicely done! Have you tried UKS1 yet?

Cheers

Steve

Thank you Steve, no UKS1 yet but I'll definitely try it some time, and then I might get a glipse of your globular next to it too
BTW it was nice catching up, hope you enjoyed your trip!

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

That's a great shot Rolf I really like it lovely subtle mix of colours and features. Terzan clusters are great to hunt down visually too, I remember I bagged a few with my 12" SCT some years ago.

Mike

Thanks for the kind words Mike, yeah it's a really lovely area of the sky with lots of little gems everywhere.

Originally Posted by LightningNZ

Such cool object you guys go for! There is a lot of really way out work being posted here lately.

Thanks Rolf - awesome image. I love those tiny planetary nebula gems in these deep shots.

Cheers,
Cam

Thank you Cam, the planetaries were really a bonus, I only noticed them when processing the data and then had to look up what they were

[Paul Haese]

Ahh cracker looking image. Love the star colours. The dust reddening of the cluster is superb and your information has provided me with some daily learning. Processing is rather nice. Maybe some faint hint of star elongation. I sometimes get that around the corners if the focus is not exactly spot on.

OverallI really like this image and once again you provide a target not often imaged if at all.

[Ross G]

Another great capture Rolf.

Ross.

[John Hothersall]

Great catch, I imaged it in IR but have not processed yet, Terzan 10 is nearby somewhere.

John.

[TrevorW]

Really nice Rolf

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Ahh cracker looking image. Love the star colours. The dust reddening of the cluster is superb and your information has provided me with some daily learning. Processing is rather nice. Maybe some faint hint of star elongation. I sometimes get that around the corners if the focus is not exactly spot on.

OverallI really like this image and once again you provide a target not often imaged if at all.

Thanks for your kind words Paul. I left my collimation as it was for a while so it might have been off a bit. I only adjusted it now for my latest image of NGC 5792 and sure enough I then had to take new flats I may be getting another mirror soon so that's why I didn't bother to keep tweaking it to perfection in the meantime... but eventually I gave in. I'll just have to wait an see how my future images turn out now.

Originally Posted by Ross G

Another great capture Rolf.

Ross.

Thank you Ross

Originally Posted by John Hothersall

Great catch, I imaged it in IR but have not processed yet, Terzan 10 is nearby somewhere.

John.

Thank you John, this one would certainly be interesting to see in IR, looking forward to that! The whole area is full of these obscure globulars. This view is actually only about 1/2 FOV away from my previous image of Barnard 86 which had Djorg 2 in it. Would be nice to fill in the gap some day

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Really nice Rolf

Thank you Trevor

[multiweb (Marc)]

Cool shot Rolf. I finally got a 2" IR filter. Inspired by your work and John's.