M35 and NGC2158 - OPEN CLASS + Cosimo Secli + L-Pro

M35 and NGC2158 - OPEN CLASS

Credit:  Cosimo Secli (Italy)

Filters: Optolong L-Pro filter

 

 

 

 

M35 and NGC2158 - OPEN CLASS

Clusters of stars can be near or far , young or old , diffuse or compact.
M35 , visible in the centre of the image , is relatively close to us , 2800 light years away , is quite young , with an age of 150 million years , and relatively diffuse , with about 250 stars dotting the sky over a width of about 20 light years.
M35 is an open cluster visible in the Gemini constellation and is characterised by the presence of bright blue stars.
Easy to find with the naked eye, under favourable conditions, it is located near the three “foot” stars of Gemini.
Smaller instruments resolve the brighter stars and make it a magnificent sight at low magnifications, revealing an almost circular group of evenly distributed stars.
In contrast, NGC 2158 , visible at lower left, is four times more distant from us than M35 , over 10 times older and much more compact.
The bright young blue stars of NGC2158 have exploded into supernovas , leaving the cluster dominated by the yellowish light of older and cooler stars.
Open star clusters like these are groups of stars born together from the same molecular cloud and still united by mutual gravitational attraction. With the passage of time, the stars belonging to the cluster tend to move away from each other and the grouping falls apart.
The low brightness of this cluster is justified by the great distance at which it is located, about 16,000 light years, i.e. on the periphery of the Milky Way, on the arm of the Swan; therefore it also appears strongly obscured by the interstellar dust that is in the line of sight.
It is a rather ancient object, whose age is estimated to be over 1 billion years.
Above right is the bright star GEM5.

 

 

 

 

TECHNICAL DATA :

Shooting location: Novoli(LE) -ITALY
Date : 19 March 2025 Mount: Skywatcher EQ6 R-PRO Synscan. Shooting telescope : Tecnosky APO Lantanio LSD 130/910 -FPL 51 Triplet with Spike Mask.
Acquisition camera : ZWO ASI 294 MC-PRO Guide telescope : Tecnosky 70/400 with camera ZWQ ASI 224 MC.
Filter : Optolong L-PRO 1.25" Exposure : 30 x 120" - 60 x 60" - 120 x 30"
Shooting and processing software : SHARPCAP -
DSS - PIXINSIGHT - PS ( Camera raw)

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