Messier 26 - Open Cluster in Scutum | Astrophotography Tips & Pictures
Messier 26 is an open cluster in the constellation Scutum. It is small and best photographed with a telescope that has a long focal length. You can also do like us and capture it widefield in order to try revealing the surrounding gasses in the whole field of view. In this post, you will find information, images, and tips to photograph Messier 26.
Object Designation: M26, NGC 6694
Also known as: N/A
Constellation: Scutum
Object Type: Open Cluster
Distance: 5,160 light-years away
Magnitude: 8.0
Discovery: Charles Messier on June 20th, 1764
The M26 cluster is easy to capture if you are a beginner astrophotographer as there is nothing challenging about it both during imaging and processing. Being in Scutum, M26 is best observed during the Summer months.
Messier 26 and Messier 11 Mosaic Astrophotography
August 2023
After doing a 4-panel mosaic on Rho Ophiuchi, I wanted to do another mosaic but wasn't sure on which target to pick. I decided to go with M11 and M26 as they are both close to each other and were getting lower and lower on the horizon.
I did a 2-panel mosaic using my equipment setup at Utah Desert Remote Observatories. I only spent 4 hours per panel meaning 8 hours in total, which was enough thanks to the dark Bortle 2 skies of the observatory location!
The result looks really cool, with lots of dark Milky Way clouds visible in the background. Be sure to check the full-resolution image by clicking on the picture below!
GEAR USED:
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC
Telescope: Celestron RASA 8
Mount: 10Micron GM1000 HPS
Guiding: ZWO ASI 290MM Mini
Accessories: Celestron Focuser / PrimaLuceLab Eagle 5S
Processing: Pixinsight, with R-C Astro plugins. Final touches in Skylum Luminar Neo
ACQUISITION DETAILS:
Total Exposure Time: 8 hours
Exposure Time per frame: 5 minutes
Filters: N/A
Gain: 100
Messier 26 Astrophotography with a Refractor Telescope
April 2020
We decided to spend just about one hour imaging this object after being done with M59/M60 and packing up for the night. We picked M26 completely at random as we often like to squeeze in and photograph a "boring cluster" as a way to end most nights. Well.. this one wasn't as "boring" as we expected!
As you can see below, the cluster itself is not that impressive, but look at all these stars! There are thousands and thousands of stars visible in this field of view, and, as we'll show you later in this post, the original stacked image looked like a photo full of noise.
M26 is best photographed in Summer. Read our guide on the 15 best Astrophotography targets for Summer if you need some inspiration about what to image next!
Messier 26
GEAR USED:
Camera: ZWO ASI 071MC
Telescope: Meade 115mm APO
Mount: Motorized Equatorial Mount
Field Flattener/Focal Reducer: Meade 3" Flattener/Reducer
Guiding: ZWO ASI 290MM Mini
Acquisition: ZWO ASIAIR
Processing: PixInsight
ACQUISITION DETAILS:
Total Exposure Time: 1 hour
Exposure Time per frame: 30 seconds
GAIN: 90
Messier 26 Cluster Information
Messier 26 may not be any astrophotographer's favorite deep-sky object, but let's learn more about it anyway!
Discovery
Messier 26 was discovered by Charles Messier himself on June 20 of the year 1764.
About this discovery, Charles Messier wrote:
"A cluster near Eta and Omicron in Antinous [now Alpha and Delta Scuti], between which there is another one of more brightness: with a telescope of 3.5-foot [Focal Length] one cannot distinguish them, one needs to employ a good instrument. This cluster contains no nebulosity".
The First Picture of M26
128 years after being discovered, the first astrophotograph of M26 was taken by astronomer Isaac Roberts using a 20-inch reflector telescope.
The picture you see below is the first known image of M26, and was taken on August 15th, 1892 with a total exposure time of 90 minutes.
NASA has photographed many Messier objects using the Hubble Space Telescope (and now continues with the James Webb Space Telescope) but has not targeted Messier 26 yet!
If you felt a bit confused as to which object was which on our mosaic image, you can see an annotated version below! The left cluster is M11 (the Wild Duck Cluster), and you will find M26 on the right side circled in blue.
In between the objects, many stars are annotated as well as tinny nebulae that are barely visible.
A crop on the star cluster M26. It was discovered in 1764 by Charles Messier and quickly entered into his catalog as the 26th entry. Messier 26 has a magnitude of 9.5, an apparent size of 7.0 arcmin, and a real size of 22 light-years in diagonal.
The cluster lies at a distance of 5,400 light-years away from Earth. It is believed that M26 would be much brighter if there was not a patch of interstellar dust between our location and the clusters.
We imaged M26 on the same night we captured M59, M60, and their many galactic neighbors.
The photo on the right shows our full equipment used for that first attempt in 2020, ready to image and waiting for dark!
We found using a 115mm refractor and one shot color camera to be excellent for star clusters, as it made the job very easy!
How to Locate Messier 26
Messier 26 rises with the Milky Way. You can find the cluster in the tiny constellation of the shield: Scutum. M26 lies very close to another cluster, M11, also nicknamed the Wild Duck Cluster as it looks like a flock of ducks flying in a V-formation.
Capturing both clusters at once is possible with a wide telescope or telephoto lens, but we suggest imaging them individually with a larger instrument as these are not extremely bright and are pretty small.
Both can be seen with the naked eye from a very dark site and are great sights through binoculars or any telescope.
Processing Messier 26
On our first attempt, we only spent one hour on M26. To be honest, we didn't really want to spend more time on it as we didn't really "care" that much about this small star cluster. We feel like the end result is fine for just one hour anyway so we are happy to have gone home at the time we did.
What surprised us the most about processing M26 was what popped up after stacking the images. As you can see below, there are stars everywhere and the entire image looks extremely messy!
For a few seconds, after this appeared, I thought it was full of noise and that I did something wrong when launching the stacking process... But no! The cluster is in the center, surrounded by an insane blanket of stars. Some faint dark dust lanes are also visible here and there.
This was most likely the most difficult star cluster I ever had to process because of the number of stars and the interstellar dust lanes. Making a star mask was definitely fun though!
On the second attempt, I spent 8 hours in total divided into two panels, which I then stitched into a mosaic using PixInsight. If you do not know how to create mosaics in PixInsight, be sure to read/watch our guide on Mosaics using PixInsight!
Processing was overall easy, but this time I did my best to reveal the dark clouds within the Milky Way visible in the background. To do so, I simply removed all the stars and mostly played with the curves and details of the background gasses before adding the stars back onto the image.
Messier 26 FAQ
What is Messier 26?
Messier 26 is an open star cluster also known as NGC 6694.
In which constellation is Messier 26 located?
Messier 26 can be found in the Scutum constellation.
How large is Messier 26?
M26 has a radius of about 11 light-years, and so a diameter of 22 light-years.
How far is M26?
Scientists believe that Messier 26 is located about 5,160 light-years away from Earth.
When was the first-ever photograph of Messier 26 taken?
The first known astrophotograph of M26 was captured on August 15th, 1892 by Isaac Roberts.
How long should my exposure time be when photographing M26?
We suggest going with 180 to 300-second exposure times when imaging this cluster. Being an open cluster, the stars are far enough apart that you can risk taking long exposures. Long exposures will help reveal more faint detail in the background.
Should I use a filter to image M26?
M26 is a broadband target and is perfect for color cameras without filters. We did not use any filters for our images.
What equipment do I need to photograph the M26 Cluster?
We suggest using a telescope with a medium to long focal length, for example the Askar FRA600!
Final Thoughts
M26 pleasantly surprised us, we did not expect the image to turn out so rich in stars and we love it! This is also a rarely photographed cluster and we are glad we decided to image it before packing everything up.
We're also very happy with our second attempt, and are glad to have created a mosaic that includes not only M26 but also the Wild Duck Cluster M11!
Clear Skies,
Antoine & Dalia Grelin
Galactic Hunter
Galactic Hunter Astrophotography Books
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