NGC6441 and G Scorpi Globular Cluster, Brilliant Orange Star, Planetary Nebula

Uploaded 7/17/10

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 Haro 1-36 Planetary nebula is arrowed here.

18th magnitude Haro 1-38 Planetary nebula is circled here. Scale is 2x above frame.

 There are few pairs of deep sky objects in the sky as dramatic as this one, a distant dust yellowed globular cluster combined with a brilliant orange star side by side. This has been one of my favorites to shoot for years, and I believe this image portrays it the best so far. Located in a dense stellar Milky Way field just off the tail of Scorpius, this pair makes a fine telescopic target for medium sized telescopes. The Globular cluster on the left is NGC6441, a bright 7.2 magnitude object spanning 10 arc minutes in size. It is barely resolved here, the outermost stars can be seen in the largest image as a sprinkling of dim yellow stars. Dust from our galaxy has blotted out nearly all of the blue stars here. Most stars in this object are 16th magnitude, making resolution into stars beyond the range of most small telescopes.

The brilliant K0 type orange star just to the right of the globular is 3.2 magnitude G scorpii, creating a brilliant companion object. Just to its upper right a pale teal colored stellar object which is arrowed in the second smaller image is the tiny planetary nebula Haro 1-36. At 12th magnitude it has a high surface brightness with a size of 10 arc seconds should be an easy target for moderate scopes. Don't try to see the central star in this one, its 17th magnitude.

There is one more planetary nebula in this field, Haro 1-38 which was barely recorded at mag 18.3 as an extended red object spanning 7 arc seconds.

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 mins Location: Payson, Arizona Elevation: 5150 ft. Sky: Seeing 6/10, Transparency 8/10 Outside Temperature: 65F Processing Tools: Photoshop CS2, Images Plus 3.82 HOME GALAXIES EMISSION NEBS REFLECTION NEBS COMETS GLOBULARS OPEN CLUST PLANETARIES LINKS