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The North Star Shines

Submitted by astroyyz@gmail.com on 14 July 2014

The North star, Polaris, shines brightly in the left frame of this image, swimming in a murky pool of dust.  In the right side of the frame is globular cluster NGC 188.  Click on the image and enlarge.

Says photographer Lynn Hilborn;

"NGC 188 was discovered by John Herschel in 1825. Unlike most open clusters that drift apart after a few million years because of the gravitational interaction of our galaxy, NGC 188 lies far above the plane of the galaxy and is one of the most ancient of open clusters known, at approximately 5 billion years old."

Polaris in galactic cirrus with NGC188 an ancient globular cluster.
135mm Canon lens f2 @ f2.5 , NJP mount tracking only...no guiding
May 30,June 3,June 19, June20, 2014
ML 8300 camera at bin 1x1, -30 C
Taken by Lynn Hilborn, WhistleStop Obs, Grafton, Ontario.
Lum 38 x 4min
R 18 x 10m 1x1
B 12 x 10m 1x1
artificial green

http://www.nightoverontario.com/