imaged Messier 73 (Halifax)

Burke-Gaffney imaged M73. Another Messier that I viewed only once. A very small open cluster in Aquarius. Seems more like a multi-star system. In a nice field.

Luminance only, 60 seconds subexposures, 10 stacked shots. FITS Liberator, Paint.NET. North is up; east is left.

This tiny open cluster also known as NGC 6994, Collinder 426, and OCL 89, is described in wikipedia as an asterism. That's a good description. They also note it has only four stars. The article goes on to say that there was some controversy but now it is understood that M73 is not an official open cluster; it is a chance alignment of separate stars.

When I first observed this object in August 2008, I noted the V-shape. It is like a little checkmark.

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Wikipedia link: Messier 73.