M30

M30 has long been a favorite of mine. In a small scope or even good binoculars, it's a fairly tight globular cluster with two rows of bright red jewels. It can be a bit hard to find, since it's in one of those fairly rare "blank" spots in the sky, where we have an almost unobstructed view out of our own galaxy.

Since getting the replacement parts last week, after that first night it has done nothing but rain and drizzle. I tried to get this last night during a break in the cloud cover, and got all of 2 minutes exposure before the fog settled in. Assuming that one day there might be some good visibility, I can't wait to shoot some real time of this object. Given that I shot 60 dark and 60 flat reference frames, I am not sure where the background gradient came from here; it's possible that there was just too little data to work with in 4 thirty second subs.