Open star cluster in Cassiopeia. Note the red giant star embedded in the cluster. The brightest star (on the right side of the cluster) is double star Struve 131. It is a foreground object that is not associated with the cluster other than its chance location on our line of sight.
Open Star Cluster M103
Date Taken:October 2, 2008
Location Taken: Conditions of Location:FWHM 1.92
Equipment Used:14.5" Ritchey-Chretien telescope, SBIG STL11000 CCD camera, Astrodon RGB filters, TCC, PIR, remote guide head used with Takahashi Sky90 for autoguiding, T-Point used for polar alignment (required for each imaging session due to my portable setup) with 0.7' polar alignment accuracy after two 12-star mapping runs.
Processing Used:10x200 seconds luminance, 10x90 seconds RGB (total exposure time of 80 minutes), 1x1 binning, combined in Maxim, cropped and processed in Photoshop, periodic Paramount mount error -4.9/-2.0.
Distance from Location:8,500 light years
Constellation:Cassiopeia (mythological wife of King Cepheus)
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