Monthly Pretty Picture and Pixel Peeper Award

Image of M13 taken by Bob Ostrander winner of the Pixel Peeper and Pretty Picture Award. 

Here’s what Bob had to say about the image:

Many regard M13 as the crown jewel of the northern hemisphere.  Like a bag of diamonds poured out on black velvet, this gem is truly a visual masterpiece.  It takes a fair picture, too.

My goals were to get a three dimensional look by keeping the core as bright as it appears visually while retaining resolution all the way across the bright face.  The propeller is faintly visible and the colors are vivid.  A tiny galaxy here and there sets it off perfectly.  The background is smooth yet shows features because it is not synthetic.  I worked to balance a dark, yet not niellen, background that reveals the tiny dwarf stars in the cluster and yet one bright enough to match the natural color of a dark night sky in Hercules.