The Antares - NGC6144 Field
Rich Milky Way Field in Scorpius

 

            
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Representing the
            heart of the Scorpion in the constellation of Scorpius, the 1.07
            magnitude bright M class star Antares blazes in a full rich orange/yellow
            coloration seen clearly here. Surrounding this stellar gem, the
            field is awash with a tawny yellow nebulosity, one of the rarest
            examples of its class in the sky. This reflection nebula IC4606
            shines by the reflected light of Antares, and is thus one of
            the very few yellow reflection in the entire sky. Completing
            the perfect composition of this field is the dim globular cluster
            NGC6144. While much fainter at 9th magnitude than the nearby
            M4 which is just out of the field to the right (West), this 8
            arc minute denizen of the outer hub of the Milky Way shines with
            stars ranging from the orange supergiants at magnitude 13.4 to
            dim outer blue members at 16.5 magnitude.

            
Surprisingly there
            are three 16th magnitude galaxies in this field as well. All
            are quite reddened by the local Milky Way dust in this region
            and very dim indeed.

Optics:  8" f/4 Newtonian Astrograph w/Baader MPCC Coma Corrector
Platform:  Astrophysics AP1200  
Camera:  Hutech Modified Canon XTi @ ISO800
Exposure:  3 x 5m = 15 minutes
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  4/10, Transparency 7/10
Outside Temperature:  65F
Processing Tools:  Photoshop CS2, Images Plus 3.82
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