M29 (NGC 6913) is an open cluster in the constellation Cygnus.

The cluster is in the center of the frame.

by Mark Bailey

These clusters of stars must have caught Messier’s eye as he scanned the skies with his telescope. Remember he was looking for things that were not comets and anything that caught his eye that was permanent went into his catalog.

This picture was taken with a modified Canon Rebel on a TEC 140 from the Alpenglow -Torrey House Observatory in the dark sky community of Torrey, Utah on October 14th 2022.

I had to squeeze these shots in before the moon came up and after it got fully dark. The object is straight overhead and would be crossing the Meridian so I also waited for it to cross the Meridian. Waiting avoided a Meridian flip which simplifies things.

The picture is the best 10 of 12 120 second shots — so it amounts to a 20 minute exposure.

I did not use compensation frames such as darks, flats, or bias. Nor was the mount guided. The idea with these Messier objects is to keep things simple.

Astrometry.net

Busy part of the sky:

Astrometry.net