SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
massimo.difusco
Location of Photo:
Rio Hurtado (Chile)
Date/Time of photo:
14/04/2025 04:00
Equipment:
Data acquired at Telescope Live: Planewave CDK24 @3962mm, Mathis MI-1000/1250 Mount QHY600M Pro camera, Astrodon R/G/B filters
Description:
Messier 11 (also known as M11 or NGC 6705), popularly known as the Wild Duck Cluster, is a rich, compact open cluster located in the southern constellation Scutum. It has an apparent magnitude of 6.3 and lies at a distance of 6200 light years. It covers an area of 14 arcmin of apparent sky and is believed to be about 220 million years old. The Wild Duck Cluster is the most distant open cluster listed in the Messier catalogue that is visible to the naked eye. The cluster contains about 2900 stars, which makes it one of the most populated open clusters known. The brighter members of the cluster form a V-shaped triangle that could be said to resemble a flock of ducks when observed in a small telescope, which is how M11 got its name.
