The rich region in the tail of Scorpius with star clusters, nebulas and Milky Way starclouds. The area contains the bright star clusters Messier 6 (at top left) and Messier 7 (at bottom left but lost in the star fields). M6 is the Butterfly Cluster, and M7 is Ptolemy’s Cluster. The bright stars at lower right are Shaula and Lesath in the tail of Scorpius. The nebulas at right are NGC 6357 (top) and NGC 6334 (bottom), aka the Cat’s Paw Nebula. This is a stack of 5 x 2-minute exposures with the 200mm lens at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600. Tracked on the AP 400 mount, unguided. From Tibuc Gardens Cottage.
The two Messier open clusters, M7 (left), Ptolemy's Cluster, and M6 (right), the Butterfly Cluster. M7 is embedded in the bright star clouds of the Milky Way while M6 is in the dark lanes. I shot this March 30/31 from Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, using the Borg 77m astrographic refractor (330mm focal length) at f/4.3 using a stack of 5 x 8 minute exposures with the filter-modified Canon 5D Mark II at ISO 800.
The spectacular field of Messier 6 and 7 open star clusters in Scorpius, with M7, aka Ptolemy’s Cluster, embedded in the dense starfields of the galactic centre at right, and M6, the Butterfly Cluster, set against the darker dust lanes of the Milky Way. 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. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.
