ScienceDownEast - ScienceDownEast Astrophotography - M013 Hercules Cluster (Latest images)

M13 (Hercules Cluster) (M013 Hercules Cluster)

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 -0300

Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 13 (NGC 6205), the Great Hercules Cluster, is the brightest globular cluster visible from the northern hemisphere, located in the constellation Hercules. Distance estimates commonly range from about 22,000 to 25,000 light-years, and the cluster spans roughly 145 light-years, containing several hundred thousand stars, many of them among the oldest in the Milky Way at 11-12 billion years of age. Under sufficiently dark skies it is faintly visible to the naked eye as a hazy patch. M13 is a rewarding target for revealing a dense, resolved core of individual stars, requiring good seeing and sufficient focal length/resolution to avoid the core stars blending into an unresolved blob, with the cluster's characteristic âpropellerâ dust lanes sometimes visible in deep images.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_13]

Total image time was 9 minutes.

Moon Phase

New Moon

Camera

Seestar S30 Pro (4K Sony IMX585 sensor)

Optics

160 mm focal length, f/5.3, 30 mm aperture (APO quadruplet)

Filter

IRCUT

Binning

1x1

Date

2026-05-18

PixInsight Processing

Image Integration (x2)

Drizzle Integration

BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)

Spectrophotometric Color Calibration

NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)

Multiscale Adaptive Stretch

Date: July 28, 2026

M13_2023-06-12 (M013 Hercules Cluster)

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:50:03 -0300

M13 Hercules Globular Cluster.
M13 was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, and cataloged by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764 into his list of objects not to mistake for comets.

Total image time was 66 minutes.

Note: click on the image to view it at the full resolution of the uploaded image, then click again for actual size.

Exposure

33x2 min.

ISO

3200

Camera

Nikon Z7 [8856 x 5504]

Optics

120mm Skywatcher Esprit Refractor on a Celestron CGX mount

Guiding

ZWO ASI224MC using Phd2

Controller

Kstars on MeLe Quieter 3C

Filter

None

Location

Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.

Date

2023-06-12

Processing

Processed in PixInsight.

GraXpert

BlurXTerminator

NoiseXTerminator

ScreenTransfer Stretch

CurvesTransformation

Date: March 26, 2025

M13_annotated (M013 Hercules Cluster)

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:50:03 -0300

M13 Hercules Globular Cluster.
M13 was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, and cataloged by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764 into his list of objects not to mistake for comets.

Total image time was 100 minutes.

Note: click on the image to view it at the full resolution of the uploaded image, then click again for actual size.

Exposure

5x20 min.

ISO

3200

Camera

Nikon Z7 [8856 x 5504]

Optics

120mm Skywatcher Esprit Refractor on a Celestron CGX mount

Guiding

ZWO ASI224MC using Phd2

Controller

Kstars on MeLe Quieter 3C

Filter

Triad Quad Ultra

Location

Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.

Date

2023-03-20

Processing

Processed in PixInsight.

Dynamic Background Extractor

BlurXTerminator

NoiseXTerminator

ScreenTransfer Stretch

CurvesTransformation

Date: March 26, 2025

M13 5x20 (M013 Hercules Cluster)

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:50:03 -0300

M13 Hercules Globular Cluster and some "nearby" friends. From 5 images taken on March 20, 2023. M13 is visible from dark sky sites with the naked eye or more easily with binoculars. It's comprised of several hundred thousand stars (I lost count).
M13 was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, and cataloged by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764 into his list of objects not to mistake for comets.

Total image time was 100 minutes.

Note: click on the image to view it at the full resolution of the uploaded image, then click again for actual size.

Exposure

5x20 min.

ISO

3200

Camera

Nikon Z7 [8856 x 5504]

Optics

120mm Skywatcher Esprit Refractor on a Celestron CGX mount

Guiding

ZWO ASI224MC using Phd2

Controller

Kstars on MeLe Quieter 3C

Filter

Triad Quad Ultra

Location

Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.

Date

2023-03-20

Processing

Processed in PixInsight.

Dynamic Background Extractor

BlurXTerminator

NoiseXTerminator

ScreenTransfer Stretch

CurvesTransformation

Date: March 26, 2025

Hercules Cluster M013 (M013 Hercules Cluster)

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:50:03 -0300

M13 Hercules Globular Cluster.
M13 was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, and cataloged by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764 into his list of objects not to mistake for comets.

Total image time was 1.25 hours.

Exposure	15x5 min.
ISO	800
Camera	Nikon Z7 [8856 x 5504]
Optics	10” Meade SCT on a Celestron CGEM DX mount
Guiding	ZWO ASI224MC using Phd2
Controller	Kstars on Odroid-N2
Filter	Triad Quad Ultra
Location	Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date	2019-09-04
Processing	Processed in PixInsight and Lightroom.

Date: March 26, 2025

M013 Hercules Cluster (M013 Hercules Cluster)

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 10:49:12 -0300

M13 Hercules Globular Cluster.
M13 was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, and cataloged by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764 into his list of objects not to mistake for comets.
6 min. total exposure

Exposure	12*30 sec
ISO	6400
Camera	Nikon D800 [7360 x 4912]
Optics	Prime focus of a 10" Meade SCT f/10, 2500 mm focal length on a Celestron CGEM DX mount/td>
Filter	None
Location	Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date	2018-08-30
Processing	Processed in PixInsight and Lightroom.

Date: March 26, 2025