Omega Centauri with a Camera

Globular cluster Omega Centauri is a huge ball of millions of stars but it's difficult to observe because it's very low on the southern horizon. From my house on the NW side of Melbourne it's well into the MLB lightdome so I have to use a scope to see it at all. From a dark site in New Mexico I could see it naked eye even though it's only 9 degrees above the horizon.

For this picture I used a Canon 40D camera and its zoom lens set to 250mm on a tracking mount. The picture was not taken through a telescope! Omega Centauri is large enough that even the kit Canon zoom lens can resolve some of its details. The benefit from the dark skies is that this image is a stack of only 12 one-minute exposures and there is no light gradient to remove.

Rick Young
May 30, 2011