M44 the Beehive or Praesepe star cluster in Cancer. This is a stack of 4 x 4 minute exposures at ISO 800 with the Canon 7D on the TMB 92mm apo refractor with Borg 0.85x reducer/flattener for f/4.5. Taken on a slightly hazy night, April 22, 2011 using AP 600E mount and SG4 autoguider.
Messier 44, the Beehive star cluster in Cancer, in a wide-field shot showing it amid the quadrilateral of stars that surround it: Gamma Cancri (top left), Eta Cancri (top right), Theta Cancri (bottom right), and Delta Cancri (bottom left). Gamma and Delta are also known as Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis. This is a stack of 6 x 6 minute exposures with the SharpStar 76mm apo refractor with the EDPH field flattener for f/4.5 and with the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 800. Diffraction spikes added for effect using Astronomy Tools actions.
Messier 44, the Beehive star cluster in Cancer, in a moonlit sky. This is a stack of 8 x 4-minute exposures through the SharpStar 140PH apo refractor at f/6.5 with no field flattener or reducer, and using the Canon EOS Ra camera with an Astronomik CLS light pollution clip-in filter. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions. So, yes, this was taken with a refractor but the spikes are added for artistic effect. RC Astro Gradient Xterminator and StarShrink filters also applied. While it would be possible to neutralize the sky colour I kept the blue moonlight, again for artistry.
