M-93 (NGC-2447) is a bright open star cluster located in the constellation of Puppis. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1782, and added to his catalog of comet-like objects as number 93. M-93 is 3600 light years from Earth and is 12 light years in diameter. It is a relatively young star cluster, only about 100 million years old. The brightest members of the cluster are blue-white giants of the type B9.
This image, acquired on December 28, 2013, is a 40 minute integration of 4 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.