Messier 62 (NGC 6266) - wonderfuluniverse.de

Messier 62 (NGC 6266) – VdS Remote Hakos

As a member of the VdS Remote Observatory group, I have the opportunity to utilize the VdS Remote Observatory located in Hakos, Namibia. This facility provides access to a shared pool of high-quality astronomical data, allowing members to process both their own observations and datasets acquired by other contributors. For this project, I worked with data collected by Kai-Oliver Detken, using it as the basis for my final image.

The resulting image features the globular cluster Messier 62 (M62), situated in the constellation Ophiuchus. M62 is one of the most irregularly shaped globular clusters in the Milky Way, likely due to gravitational interactions with the Galactic bulge. The dataset captured its densely packed core and extended halo with excellent resolution, benefitting from the observatory’s exceptionally dark and stable skies in the Namibian highlands.

Data calibration, registration, and final processing were performed using PixInsight, with emphasis on accurate photometric color balance and fine detail preservation within the cluster’s core. The final result clearly displays the compact, luminous center of M62 surrounded by a rich field of foreground and background stars, showcasing both the quality of the data and the capabilities of modern post-processing techniques.