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.
M6 Butterfly Cluster, with 4-inch Astro-Physics Traveler apo refractor at f/6 and Canon 20Da at ISO800 for stack of two 2-minute exposures. Taken from Queensland, Australia, July 30, 2006.
