M12 is a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus that lies 15,700 light-years from Earth. It is a Shapley-Sawyer Class IX globular, which means that the core is not very dense and fairly easy to resolve. This image shows several ropey, dark dust lanes along the periphery of the cluster.
Image data:
Telescope/Mount: Celestron Compustar C14 with Starizona LF reducer/corrector (f/7.5).
Camera: SBIG STL 11000M with Baader Planetarium L,R,G, and B filters.
Adaptive Optics: SBIG AO-L @ 8Hz.
Location: Pommier Observatory, Portland, OR, USA.
Dates: 2017-06-21 through 2017-06-23
Exposures: L:R:G:B=100:60:60:50 minutes=4 hours, 30 minutes total exposure.
See additional astrophotographs at www.rodpommier.com