NGC 6520 & BARNARD 86

OPEN CLUSTER & DARK NEBULA in Sagittarius

 (ra: 18,03.4 / dec -27:54)

Image taken and calibrated by Ezequiel Bellocchio from AstroPilar

Processed by Sergio Eguivar

Colaboration with Ezequiel Bellocchio ASTROPILAR 

August 2013, Pilar,  Buenos Aires, Argentina

DATA

TYPE: Open Cluster & Dark Nebula

VISUAL MAGNITUDE: 8 for NGC 6520 N/A for Barnard 76

SIZE: 6 arc minutes

DISTANCE: 7,000 light years

IMAGE INFORMATION

SCOPE: SCOPE: Orion Optics 10" Optimized Dall Krikham

CAMERA: FLI ML 8300

FILTERS: Baader LRGB

SKY CONDITIONS: suburbs skies 35

EXPOSURES: LRGB (300,100,100,100)

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

The majority of old stars in our Galaxy, as in most others, appear yellowish on photographs. This is because the hotter, bright blue stars have relatively short but spectacular lives. We see these old stars in vast numbers as the brightest patches of the Milky Way and a powerful telescope like the AAT reveals them to be as numerous and crowded as grains of sand, especially in Sagittarius.

Superimposed on this distant background in the photograph is a small cluster of young blue stars, NGC 6520. In the same region as the cluster is a dark cloud, Barnard 86. The cluster is at a distance of about 7000 light years and is probably associated with the dark cloud. The dust is visible only because it blocks out light from the myriads of stars beyond. (*)

Text selected from Australian Astronomical Observatory