Sagittarius Star Clouds
Copyright 2001 Hap Griffin
The heart of our galaxy is evident in this wide field view of the densest region of the Milky Way. The familiar asterism known as the "Teapot" in Sagittarius is easy to spot in the lower left center, with the "steam" of the Milky Way rising from its "spout." The bright region in the lower center may appear to be a cloud, but is in actuality the combined light of billions of stars near the center of our galaxy. The dark bands and knots are regions of light obscuring dust between us and the myriads of stars beyond.
This area of the Summer and Fall sky is full of deep space wonders, many of which can be spotted in this photo. The large star cluster just to the right of bottom center is M7. The bright Lagoon Nebula, M8, is near the center with the red and blue Trifid Nebula, M20, just above it. The dense star region around cluster M24 is in upper center and the two red emission nebulae, M16 and M17 can be seen further up. The bright orange glow of the planet Mars, passing through this region when the photo was taken, can be seen at the far right edge.
Date/Location:
July 21, 2001 Griffin/Hunter
Observatory Bethune, SC
Instrument: Nikon FM w/50 mm lens piggyback on 10" LX-200
Focal Ratio: f 2.8
Guiding: None
Conditions: Visually clear but with thin haze near horizon
Weather: 60 F, Still wind
Film: Kodak Elite Chrome 200
Exposure: 1 x 10 minutes
Filters: None
Processing: Finished in Photoshop 5