SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
massimo.difusco
Location of Photo:
Rio Hurtado (Chile)
Date/Time of photo:
04/02/2025 4:00
Equipment:
Data acquired at Chilescope: ASA Newtonian 500mm, FLI Proline 16803 CCD camera, ASA DDM85 Equatorial mount, Astrodon RGB filters
Description:
Messier 68 (also known as M68 or NGC 4590) is a globular star cluster located in Hydra, the largest constellation in the sky. The cluster has an apparent magnitude of 9,67 and lies at a distance of 33600 light years from Earth. M68 occupies an area of 11 arc minutes, which corresponds to a spatial diameter of 106 light years. Messier 68 lies in the direction opposite to the galactic centre and may have come from another galaxy, one of the dwarf satellites absorbed by the Milky Way in the distant past. The stars in M68 are very old and metal-poor compared to the typical stars found in the Milky Way. As the cluster is about 11.2 billion years old, the brightest stars have long burned out, leaving only dim, old members.
