Deep Sky Object in Summer
M18 (Open Cluster in Sagittarius)


Date & Time: May 25 2019, from 23:34 to 24:04 JST(+0900)
Composed 6 shots with 6 minutes exposed
Optical: TAKAHASHI 12.5cm(4.9") fluorite refractor with conversion lens (f=700mm, F5.6)
with IDAS LPS-P2-FF Light-pollution suppression filter
Auto-guided with VIXEN ATLUX Equatorial & Lacerta M-GEN
Digital Camera: Canon EOS 600D (Remodeled)
Location: Ooizumi, Hokuto city, Yamanashi pref.

Camera Settings: Recording Format...12bit CCD-RAW, converted to 16bit TIFF(5184×3456)
Sensitivity...ISO1600


M18 (NGC6613) / Open Cluster, type d, II 3 p n
R.A.18h 19m 54.0s (2000.0)
Dec.-17° 08' 00" (2000.0)
Apparent Size9.0'
Real Size13 light yrs.
# of Stars20
Magnitude7.5
Distance4900 light yrs.
M18 is a small-scaled open cluster buried under the summer's Milky Way around Sagittarius. The cluster is positioned just 1 degree south of the Omega Nebula (M17). And the Star Cloud of Sagittarius shows you a splendid view at still more southern region. It can be said that the cluster is fairly modest deep sky object compared with those vast and beautiful scenic spots in the Milky Way.
Perhaps you may get an impression of M18 as a simple striking part of the Milky Way rather than an open cluster. The cluster has small apparent size of 9 arc minutes or so, normal binoculars might be a bit insufficient to enjoy the object. M18 is floating in the Galaxy about 5000 light years away containing ten or more fine stars.



M11
M23

Copyright(c) 2019 by Naoyuki Kurita, All rights reserved.
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