M-79 (NGC-1904) is a small globular star cluster located in the constellation of Lepus the Hare. It was discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1780. Charles Messier added it to his catalog as number 79 in the same year. It is located about 4 degrees south of Beta Leporis. M-79 is a distant cluster, lying over 50,000 light years from Earth. It is 110 light years in diameter.
This image, acquired on December 17, 2013, is a twenty-five minute integration of 50 second exposures through the Celestron C-11 at f/2, using the HyperStar III imaging system and the Starlight Express SXVR-H694C color CCD camera. Guided, captured and combined using Maxim DL5 Pro. Post processed using PhotoShop CS2, Gradient XTerminator, StarShrink, Carboni's Astro Tools and NoiseWare.