NGC 457 is an open cluster easy to spot in Cassiopeia constellation. Its shape resembles an owl, so some people calls it the Owl cluster. Others see an alien, so it is sometimes called the ET cluster. The two brightest stars at left side would be the alien's eyes.

Frank Tyrlik, the image's author, is an astronomy amateur since 1975. Although he prefers the observation of deep sky objects, he does not scorn to look at the sun or planets. At first, Frank tried out a Quickcam, a Vestapro-SC and a ToUcam but finally he got a Canon EOS 300D and a 350D DSLR cameras. Frank belongs to Saint Michel Mont Mercure Astronomy Club.

This image was taken by Frank Tyrlik with a Canon EOS 300d through a Celestron G9 at 2008-08-25. It is actually a sum of 18 subframes of 120" each at ISO 800.

by Frank Tyrlik on 2009-05-20 22:17:48 [Original Size] - [Next Image] - [Author's gallery]