The spectacular field of Messier 8 and 20 emission and reflection nebulas in Sagittarius, with M8, aka the Lagoon Nebula below, and M20, the Trifid Nebula, above, all set in the rich starfields of the Milky Way. The diffuse nebula left of M8 is NGC 6559. Two globular clusters, NGC 6544 and NGC 6553, sit below and to the left (east) of M8. The Messier open cluster, M21, sits above M20. I shot this April 4, 2016 from the Tibuc Cottage at Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, using the 77mm Borg f/4 astrograph for a stack of 5 x 6-minute exposures with the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600.
The globular cluster Messier 13 (M13) in Hercules, with the small galaxy NGC 6207 above it. The very tiny galaxy IC 4617 is just visible between NGC 6207 and M13. M13 is generally considered the finest globular cluster in the northern half the sky (north of the celestial equator). This is a stack of just two images, each 6 minutes at ISO 800 with the Canon EOS Ra and Astro-Physics EDF 130mm f/6 apo refractor with the 6x7 field flattener. The images were the last two in the sequence of 10, and were the sharpest of the set. Earlier images were softer due to poorer seeing?
Messier 16, the Eagle Nebula in Serpens. The cluster embedded in the nebula is NGC 6611. The small open cluster above is Trumpler 32. I shot this from home on a very clear night on July 31, 2019, using the Astro-Physics Traveler and Hotech f/6 field flattener for a stack of 5 x 8-minute exposures at ISO 800 with the now 10-year-old filter-modified Canon 5D Mark II.
