• NGC 6218 or Messier 12, a globular in Ophiuchus
    • M12 globular
    M12 annotated
  • NGC 6218, M12, is a small globular cluster
  • located in the constellation Ophiuchus.
  • In dark skies, it can be seen in binoculars.
  • M12 has lost a significant number of its low mass
  • stars during its orbit around the galactic center.
  • M12 is 16.4 kly from us.
  • Hover over the picture for an annotated version
  • Date:  20 April 2026
  • FOV:  approximately 45' × 30'; the apparent size of M12 is about 16'
  • Rotation:  89.993°
  • Telescope:  Stellarvue SVX102T + SFFX-1 (714mm, f/7)
  • Guiding:  ZWO ASI120MM mini mono guide camera,
  • SVBony SV165 Mini 40mm f/4 guide scope
  • Computer:  ASIair pro Raspberry Pi
  • Mount:  ZWO AM5
  • Camera:  ZWO ASI6200MC Pro Cooled (-10°C) Color CMOS, gain 100
  • Pixel size:  3.76 μm
  • Resolution:  1.052 arcsec/pixel
  • Stacking:  twenty 300 second frames using Pixinsight
  • Calibration:  20 flats, 20 dark flats, and 20 darks
  • Total Time:  1 hour 40 minutes
  • Processing:  Pixinsight – DBE, SPCC, DynCrop, BlurXT, NoiseXT,
  • MStr, GHS, HST, MAS, PMath MStr + MAS + GHS + HST, Sat, Scale
  • Location:  Darling Hill Observatory near Vesper, NY