M-50 (NGC-2323) is a large open star cluster located in the constellation of Monoceros, close to its border with Canis Major, about 4 degrees NE of the 4th magnitude star Theta Canis Majoris. It is fairly large, with a visual size of 16 arc minutes, and fairly rich, containing over 100 stars. The brightest are mainly blue-white, although there are several yellow and orange stars which give it visual appeal. It lies 3200 light years from Earth and is 18 light years in diameter. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1772.
This image, acquired on March 20, 2015, is a 36 minute integration of 6 minute exposures through the Celestron C-11 at f/2, using the HyperStar III imaging system and the Starlight Express SXVR-H694C color CCD 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.