M40 (Winnecke 4) RGB - 15 April 2020

[geoflewis]

I'm not sure about posting this in the Deep Sky section, but I can't think anywhere else to post it - indeed one wonders if it should be posted anywhere at all...!! This is possibly the most bizarre of Charles Messier's list of 'it's not a comet' targets, though to be fair to him, in 1764 he was searching for a nebula that had been reported in the area by Johannes Hevelius, of which nothing has ever been found. What Messier found was an optical double, which I've only imaged as I need it for my personal Messier collection. It was rediscovered by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke in 1863, hence the alternative designation of Winnecke 4.

The star field is so boring that for the first time ever I used Noel Carboni's Astronomy Tools to add artificial diffraction spikes....

Anyway here you are Messier 40....

For anyone interested capture details are:

C14+Optec x0.67 telecompressor lens, QSI585wsg-5, Astronomic Type II RGB filters each 12x1m.

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by geoflewis
added capture details

[geeklee]

The write up with a bit of history made up for any short falls in the image impact (it's still a pleasing image in my eye!). Thanks @geoflewis

16 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

The star field is so boring that for the first time ever I used Noel Carboni's Astronomy Tools to add artificial diffraction spikes....

As I was reading this my mind skipped ahead wandering what you'd decided to add to "spruce things up a bit" 😅

Edited April 18, 2020 by geeklee

[lux eterna]

The story makes the image interesting.

Ragnar