| Telescope / Lens | TEC 140mm f/7 APO Refractor |
| Mount Type | Astrophysics 1200 |
| Camera | SBIG ST10XME |
| Filters | Astrodon LRGB e-series of balanced filters (g-1) |
| Film | CCD |
| Exposure | 4 hours 20 minutes, LRGB 20min,10 min. & 5 min. subs; RGB 4 x 5 min |
| Processing | CCDSoft, CCDStack, AIP, Photoshop CS2-CS6 |
| Date | 07/24/2009 |
| Location | Snow Peak, S/E of Cottage Grove, Oregon |
| Conditions | 4658′ elevation, magnitude 6 Skies; Clear |
Abell 2151 Hercules Galaxy Cluster
The Hercules Galaxy Cluster Abell 2051 is a cluster of approximately 100 galaxies 500 to 650 million light years away. This amazing Galactic Cluster resides within the constellation of Hercules. The brightest galaxy NGC 6050 , an interacting spiral galaxy 24″ x 18″. NGC 6050 is dim at magnitude 15.4. It is also known as NGC 6050A and NGC5060B. Data on this Abell Cluster continues to change, as more is learned. Most current information lists a general distance of 509 million light years and 300 member galaxies.
I am amazed what a 5.5″ APO Refractor (TEC140 ED)can do and coupled with an SBIG ST10XME CCD (KAF3200 CCD Chip) can really go deep. The camera is one of the most sensitive front illuminated CCD chips available, with a quantum efficiency is around 85-86% at peak.
This attempt of my own Deep Field began after setting up remotely in Oregon for one night. Going as deep as I could and took over 4 hours of CCD images, capturing as many galaxies as possible. My Luminous frames were 5, 10 and 20 minutes long. So far I have counted over 200 plus galaxies in this image and continue to find more. There are so many tiny specs, when compared to a Hubble Telescope image, they are in fact galaxies. Some of these background galaxies could be over a billion light years away. In perspective, that would mean a 5.5″ amateur telescope and CCD went back one twelfth the age of the Universe…
One can see several interacting galaxies that are within the Hercules Cluster. While larger instruments can resolve greater detail , I am pleased with what a small telescope can accomplish in one night.