AP#83 : M11
Name: The "Wild duck" cluster.
Constellation:Scutum
Instrument:8-inch F5 reflector with Sky Watcher coma corrector and ASI 2600 (gain 100 -20c).
Exposure time: A stack of 40 ninety-second exposures.
Star Chart from Michael Vlasov's Deep sky hunter star atlas available on line https://www.deepskywatch.com/deep-sky-hunter-atlas.html
Magnitude: 5.8
Angular size: 22.8'
This is an open cluster in Scutum that, in small instruments/low magnification, looks like a flock of wild ducks in a V-shaped formation. At higher magnifications, this appearance is less noticable. My recollections of my first observations of it were in a three-inch refractor. To me it looked like a comet at first glance. There was a bright star in the center and the cluster of stars looked like a halo around the star. Only close observation revealed the halo was made of multiple stars. This is a spectacular cluster nestled in the Scutum star cloud.
