M67 - The King Cobra Cluster

Messier 67 (a.k.a. M67, NGC 2682 or The King Cobra Cluster) is an open cluster in the constellation of Cancer.  At 3.5 to 5 billion years old there are older open clusters, however, none of which are as close to Earth at 2600 - 2900 light-years (source: wikipedia).

This object is a personal milestone for me as it is the 55th Messier Object I have imaged and leaving 55 more to capture with my rig.  It has taken me almost two years to reach this point although I have only seriously been working on it since last year.  I hope to finish in less time and this may be doable since I now have a permanent pier and astronomy shed.  The only downside is objects that never get above 25 degrees altitude are hidden by trees from my yard.  That leaves 18 Messier Objects I will have image somewhere else.  I don't mind the moving and setting up in a different local so much as I have aligned and set so well on the concrete pier.  Oh well.

Wide Field 

Crop

M67 (NGC 2682)
Location: Happy Frog Observatory, Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 2-20-17, 01:05 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i(a), Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm

f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Filter: Astrodon UV/IR
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: 18-90s (27 min)
ISO: 1600
Temp: 0 C (32 F)
Post Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop, Lightroom, Gradient Exterminator, Astronomy Tools