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Name / Constellation

M103

Other: NGC 581, Cr 14, Mel 8, Raab 4, OCL 326

Cas
Coordinates AR: 01h 33m 12s - Dec: +60° 42′
Optics Takahashi FSQ 106N APO Fluorite F5 - 60/220 guiding refractor
Camera-Mount SBIG STF8300M - Orion StarShot Guider - 10Micron GM2000 QCI Mount
Filters Baader LRGB
Exposure
  • Lum
  • Red
  • Green
  • Blue
  • 10 x 180 sec - 30 min
  • 10 x 180 sec - 30 min
  • 10 x 180 sec - 30 min
  • 10 x 180 sec - 30 min
  • UNBINNED
  • BINNING 2X2
  • BINNING 2X2
  • BINNING 2X2
Location / Date Promiod (Valle D'Aosta-Italy) "TLP" Remote Observatory - 04 dec 2018
Seeing About 3.5-4" @ 2.1 arcosec/pixel unbinned
Note Bad seeing
Acquisition MaxIm DL - CCD Autopilot 5
Processing Adobe Photoshop CS6 -
Comment

Messier 103 (also known as M103, or NGC 581) is an open cluster where a few thousand stars formed in the constellation Cassiopeia. This open cluster was discovered in 1781 by Charles Messier's friend and collaborator Pierre Méchain. It is one of the most distant open clusters known, with distances of 8,000 to 9,500 light-years from the earth and ranging about 15 light-years apart. There are about 40 member stars within M103, two of which have magnitudes 10.5, and a 10.8 red giant, which is the brightest within the cluster. Observation of M103 is generally dominated by the appearance of Struve 131, though the star is not a member of the 172-star cluster. M103 is about 25 million years old.