M13 Cluster in Hercules

M13 is a globular cluster within the Hercules constellation, formed of about 300,000 stars. This was one of my first target with my new tracking mount, as it's a little fainter than other targets but still visible with a pair of binoculars.

Having set the mount to find the cluster, I took a few shots and was a little confused - I couldn't see anything resembling a cluster and as it was one of the first uses of my new mount - being a total novice I was sure something wasn't right. So I popped indoors to check on Stellarium where the cluster sits within the Hercules constellation - a quick diagram drawn on a post-it note helped me pin point it. It turns out I had captured it, but it was a lot smaller and fainter than I initially thought. The first shot below shows the image I initially captured, if you click on the image you will see where on the image the cluster is.

The constellation of Hercules, with M13 visible left of centre at the top

This weekend just gone, I stayed at my parents who live on the coast and have much darker skies. I stayed out for a few hours before tiredness got the better of me. I had three targets in mind, one of them being M13 again. 

This time I took 16 minutes worth of exposures, with 8 minutes of 'dark frames' which are used to subtract any noise on the sensor itself. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome, after a few hours trying to get a decent results from the shots I took - the clear build up of stars as it gets toward the centre is pretty fascinating. 

16 minutes of exposure on M13 - Hercules globular cluster