NGC 2281 in Auriga

Dear Friends,

The weatherman blew it again this evening with the local predictions but this time in my favour (!) where instead of heavily overcast skies I was privy to somewhat transparent skies. With the moon rising about three hours after the end of astro twilight, I searched for something high and quick and I stumbled upon NGC 2281, a really beautiful open cluster in Auriga.

Here is an LRGB effort with two hours total exposure: www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-NGC-2281.htm

I sincerely hope the weatherman blows it again tomorrow, for similar heavily overcast skies are being predicted.

I realize I will be asking myself tomorrow what the hell I was thinking but I would like to dedicate this image to ........ Seanie. :shock:

www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-NGC-2281.htm

I realize I will be asking myself tomorrow what the hell I was thinking but I would like to dedicate this image to ........ Seanie. :shock:

Why? Because it was a labour of love? I'm not a Greek hooker for you yet Anto!

But I'm glad you have me in your thought when you're taking pictures of the stars...


...for some weird, unknown, reason...

:lol:

Great image Anthony.
a new nick name for Seanie, "the greek hooker", thats great :lol:

Great image Anthony.
a new nick name for Seanie, "the greek hooker", thats great :lol:

Seanie is giving Greek hookers a bad name ... sort of a low blow. :lol:

Glad you like the image!

Nice to see an image that does not exaggerate the colours.
Very natural looking.

Note the faint galaxy cluster in the background.

Peter.

Hi Peter,

Yes, I did note it and checked up on it ... it exists in other images as well. For example, if you look at the NGC/IC image for NGC 2281 ( www.ngcic.org/pubdb.htm ), it is there. My first comet discovery will have to wait a little longer. :lol: