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Wild Duck Cluster (M11)
open cluster in Scutum
The Wild Duck Cluster is one of the richest and densest open clusters in the sky, a wedge of thousands of stars in Scutum. It sits against the dense Scutum Star Cloud of the Milky Way, and its fan-shaped pattern gives it its name.
Save your telescope or lens on the planner to lay your camera frame over this diagram.
// Key facts
- Catalog
- M11
- Type
- open cluster
- Constellation
- Scutum
- Size
- 14′ across
- Brightness
- Magnitude 5.8
- Distance
- about 6,200 light-years
- Peak month (any location)
- Jul
- Typical prime months
- Apr to Sep
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Filter
- No filter (broadband)
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How to image Wild Duck Cluster
- At 14 arcminutes, 800 to 1,200 mm frames it with room for the surrounding star field.
- The rich star field makes round, well-guided stars important.
- Scutum is best placed in summer evenings, close to the Eagle Nebula region.
Framing: what focal length?
M11 is small, so a "60% of the frame" focal length would be impractical. Here is how much of an APS-C frame it covers at common long focal lengths; expect to crop.
| Focal length | Share of the frame width |
|---|---|
| 1,000 mm | about 17% |
| 2,000 mm | about 35% |
| 3,000 mm | about 52% |
How high does it climb from your latitude?
The highest point M11 reaches in the sky. Above about 60° is excellent, 30° to 60° is workable, and under 30° you are looking through a lot of air.
| Latitude | Highest point | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 55°N (Scotland, Alaska) | 29° | Stays low |
| 45°N (Minneapolis, Milan) | 39° | Workable |
| 35°N (Los Angeles, Tokyo) | 49° | Workable |
| 25°N (Miami, Cairo) | 59° | Workable |
| 35°S (Sydney, Santiago) | 61° | High in the sky |
Also worth imaging
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