Taken June 25, 2012, with the C-14 operating at F:3.5 and the ST-8 camera binned 2 X 2. Exposure is 100 seconds.
M4
M4 in Scorpius is a nearby globular cluster, at a distance of just over 7,000 light-years. Due to its visual magnitude of about 5.6, it can be glimpsed in a dark sky without optical aid, just west of Antares. The central bar structure of 11th magnitude stars is somewhat unusual and the cluster is one of the most open, loosely constructed globulars in the sky. Much of its glory is dimmed by heavy clouds of intervening dust. It is about 55 light-years in diameter. In July, 2003, astronomers discovered a planet (heavier than Jupiter) orbiting a binary system consisting of a neutron star and a white dwarf in M4.
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Taken June 25, 2012, with the C-14 operating at F:3.5 and the ST-8 camera binned 2 X 2. Exposure is 100 seconds. |
Fastar image of 30 seconds taken May 24, 2003.
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The region surrounding Antares in
Scorpius, taken July 4, 2003, with the 300mm Nikkor at F:4.5 using Fuji
800. Exposure was 4 minutes. |