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 Debatably the
            best globular star cluster visible in the Arizona night sky,
            this huge 1 degree wide super cluster contains more stars than
            some dwarf galaxies. Beaming strongly on the southern horizon
            at a magnitude of 3.9, its brightest stars are 11.5 magnitude,
            most being 15th or fainter. This easy naked eye object is at
            declination -47.5 degrees, corresponding to a lowly 8.25 degrees
            above our horizon at its highest.

            
This image was deficient
            in the blue channel, due to some atmospheric extinction, and
            this was the closest I could get to a G2V color balance. An interesting
            side note, photographs taken in the lower deserts west of Phoenix
            at 800 foot elevation had no blue component at all, and best
            efforts could only get a completely yellow cluster out of my
            film shots.

Instrument:  100 - 400mm f/4L
Platform:  Astrophysics 1200 QMD
Camera:  Canon 10D @ ISO800
Exposure:  2 x 8m
Filters:  None
Location:  Happy Jack, Arizona
Elevation:  6800 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  10/10, Transparency 8/10
Outside Temperature:  50F
Processing Tools:  Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Canon Raw
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