The last of the showable pics of the several score snapped during the icy hours in Magellan Observatory at Lake Bathurst. The first two are my favorite binocular targets.
M6 in Scorpius
NGC 6405 (M6, Butterfly Cluster) has about 80 cluster members spread over a region about 54 arc minutes in diameter. The main portion of the cluster fills a field of about 25' angular diameter and it's distance is estimated to be about 1600 light-years. Giovanni Batista Hodierna discovered it sometime before 1654; but Hodierna's records did not become generally known before the 1980s. Philippe Loys de Chéseaux independently rediscovered it in 1745-46, and was the first to recognize it as "a very fine star cluster." Lacaille included it in his catalog of 1751-52 as Lac III.12, and Charles Messier eventually cataloged it on May 23, 1764.
M7 in Scorpius
NGC 6475 (Ptolemy's Cluster, The Scorpion's Tail, M7) is an open cluster first described by Ptolemy around 130 AD as the "nebula following the sting of Scorpius." M7 was observed by Hodierna before 1654, who counted 30 stars. Edmond Halley listed it as No. 29 in his catalog of southern stars of 1678, and Abbe Lacaille added it to his catalog of southern objects as Lac II.14. Charles Messier included it as No. 7 in his catalog on May 23, 1764. M7 consists of about 80 stars brighter mag 10 in a field of about 1.3 degrees apparent diameter which at its distance of perhaps 800 light years corresponds to a linear extension of 18 or 20 light years.
Carina Nebula
NGC 3372, the Eta Carinae Nebula, in a diffuse nebula discovered by Lacaille (Lac III.6) in 1751-52 during his 2-year journey to the Cape of Good Hope. This giant nebula is one of the largest H II regions (composed of ionized hydrogen gas) in our galaxy. This star forming nebula has produced the very conspicuous peculiar star Eta Carinae, which is among the most massive and luminous stars in our Milky Way, and perhaps in the universe.
M6 in ScorpiusNGC 6405 (M6, Butterfly Cluster) has about 80 cluster members spread over a region about 54 arc minutes in diameter. The main portion of the cluster fills a field of about 25' angular diameter and it's distance is estimated to be about 1600 light-years. Giovanni Batista Hodierna discovered it sometime before 1654; but Hodierna's records did not become generally known before the 1980s. Philippe Loys de Chéseaux independently rediscovered it in 1745-46, and was the first to recognize it as "a very fine star cluster." Lacaille included it in his catalog of 1751-52 as Lac III.12, and Charles Messier eventually cataloged it on May 23, 1764.
M7 in ScorpiusNGC 6475 (Ptolemy's Cluster, The Scorpion's Tail, M7) is an open cluster first described by Ptolemy around 130 AD as the "nebula following the sting of Scorpius." M7 was observed by Hodierna before 1654, who counted 30 stars. Edmond Halley listed it as No. 29 in his catalog of southern stars of 1678, and Abbe Lacaille added it to his catalog of southern objects as Lac II.14. Charles Messier included it as No. 7 in his catalog on May 23, 1764. M7 consists of about 80 stars brighter mag 10 in a field of about 1.3 degrees apparent diameter which at its distance of perhaps 800 light years corresponds to a linear extension of 18 or 20 light years.
Carina NebulaNGC 3372, the Eta Carinae Nebula, in a diffuse nebula discovered by Lacaille (Lac III.6) in 1751-52 during his 2-year journey to the Cape of Good Hope. This giant nebula is one of the largest H II regions (composed of ionized hydrogen gas) in our galaxy. This star forming nebula has produced the very conspicuous peculiar star Eta Carinae, which is among the most massive and luminous stars in our Milky Way, and perhaps in the universe.
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