M-35 (NGC-2168) is a bright, beautiful open cluster in the constellation of Gemini. Discovered by de Cheseaux in 1745 and cataloged by Charles Messier in 1764 as the 35th object in his list. M-35 is a bright, moderately rich star cluster containing over 120 stars ranging from B-3 to G-0 in the main sequence. Most of the members are 8th to 10th magnitude. M-35 lies 2800 light years from Earth. Also visible in this image, about 1/2 degree SW, is the more distant star cluster NGC-2158. It is almost the same physical size as M-35 (approximately 25 light years in diameter), but lies at a distance of over 18,000 light years.
This image, acquired on January 23, 2018, is a 30 minute integration of 6 minute exposures through the Celestron C-11 at f/2 using the HyperStar III imaging system and the ZWO ASI 071MC color CMOS camera,
operating at -10 degrees below ambient temperature and binned 1 X 1. Guided, captured and combined using Maxim DL5 Pro. Post processed using PhotoShop CS2, Gradient XTerminator, StarShrink, Carboni's Astro Tools, and NoiseWare.
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