M5 – Globular Cluster in Serpens
 

M5 is a large globular star cluster located in the constellation Serpens. The cluster contains at least 300,000 stars, and measures about 130 light years across. It is approximately 26,000 light years away, and is estimated to be 13 billion years old. North is up in this photo. Notice the faint galaxy (IC4537, magnitude 14.2) near the right side.

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M5 globular star cluster

Equipment
 Celestron 9¼" at f/7.5 on a Losmandy G-11 equatorial mount
SBIG ST-8XM camera
SBIG CFW-10 filter wheel with Astrodon TruBalance LRGB filters
Clement Bellerophon II focuser
Optec Pyxis camera rotator
Imaging and autoguiding with MaxIm DL 4
Exposure
Luminance   1.75 hours (53 x 1 min.), unbinned, -20°C
Processing Image calibration, sigma-reject, sum-combine in CCDStack.
Levels, curves, highpass filter in Photoshop CS2.
Date and Location 25 May, 2007    Montpelier, VA    N 37° 49' 12", W 77° 42' 06"