A combination of 16 images taken between June of 2008 and March, 2009.

16 - 10 min. exposures, at -10 deg. C. Gain 12%, Offset 100. TEC-140 (980mm, f/7) with the AP 27TVPH .75x focal reducer, yielding 760mm, f/5.4; CCD-Labs' Q285M monochrome camera, Baader uv/ir filter. Post processing in ImagesPlus using IP 3.75 beta 2 for DDP; curves in Nebulosity2.

It's amazing how much more detail came out, replete with satellite tracks, cosmic ray hits and all. Download the original (full size) version and look closely for the tiny, faint fuzzies, which are distant galaxies.

20090328_Hercules-Cluster-best16-adj.tif