June 5-7
Executive Plaza HotelLIGO Scientifi c Collaboration
Register and i nd out more at: ga2020.rasc-vancouver.comT
g v yHeaven’s Seven Sisters
This issue of SkyNews has articles focused on
Messier objects and clusters; this photo ties them
neatly together.Emile Cormier said Santa gave him clear skies on
Christmas Eve at the end of last year, so he graciously
accepted the gift and imaged M45, the Pleiades cluster.“It was the irst ‘egg’ laid by ‘he Chicken Coop Observatory,’ my
recently-built backyard observatory that is in close proximity to
the chicken coop,” he wrote in an email, noting the observatory
is located under Bortle 3 skies near Bouctouche, N.B.he image was captured using a ZWO ASI071MC-Pro camera,
Explore Scientiic 80mm triplet refractor, ZWO ASI290MM
Mini guide camera, ZWO of-axis guider, and an iOptron
CEM60 mount.Cormier said 66 x four-minute frames were processed entirely
in PixInsight, noting that in particular, the dynamic range
was compressed to enhance the ilamentary structure of the
relection nebula. He also said the nebula’s midtone reds and
greens were boosted gently to reveal diferent colour tones at
the south end of the Merope Nebula. •
SKYNEWS • MAR/APR 2020PARTING SHOT Photo by Emile Cormier