MESSIER 24 - WIDE FIELD

 STAR CLOUD IN SAGITTARIUS  

(Image centered at: ra 18 h:18 m / dec - 18º 39')

IMAGE WITH LABELS

July 2022, Home Backyard in Martínez, Buenos Aires, Argentina

DATA

TYPE: Star Cloud

APPARENT DIAMETER: 90 arc minutes

APPARENT MAGNITUDE (V): 4,6 (mag)

DISTANCE: 10,000 light years    

IMAGE INFORMATION

INSTRUMENT: Canon EF 200 mm lens stopped at 4,5

CAMERA: QSI 583 WS

MOUNT: SKY WATCHER NEQ6, Guided with 70/400 refractor 7 Starligh Xpress Lodestar

FILTERS: Baader LRGB Set, Astronomik Ha 6nm

SKY CONDITIONS: urban skies - Bortle 8

EXPOSURES: LHARGB (40,60,40,40,40)

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

Messier 24 (M24) is one of the few particular objects, or curiosities, in Messier's catalogue: Under entry Nº 24 in his catalogue, Charles Messier list a large object of 1 1/2 deg in extension, which he included on June 20, 1764, and describes it as "a large nebulosity in which there are many stars of different magnitudes." Messier object number 24 is not a "true" deep sky object, but a huge star cloud in Milky Way, a pseudo-cluster of stars spread thousands of light years along the line of sight. (*)

The 200 mm lens brought a wide field area which is a good fit for a large cloud like Messier 24. I have used an Ha 6 nm filter just to bring HII material which is mixed within the stars.  There are many interesting objects like Barnards 92 & 93 dark clouds; IC 1283, 1284 form the HII clouds which absorbs the radiation of nearby stars (HD 167815) and releasing red light. The two bright blue reflecting clouds are NGC 6589 and 6590 which appear to be superimposed and merged with the mentioned HII area; even open cluster Messier 18 can be seen below left

(*) SEDS

MESSIER 24 - WIDE FIELD

 IMAGE WITH LABELS