M6 Butterfly cluster & Sh2-12

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

Hi everyone, I've just uploaded a picture of M6, the Butterfly cluster in Scorpio. This object is located in the middle of the Milky Way in a field rich of stars and nebulae, being on the edge of the HII complex SH2-12. The link:

M6 and surroundings

The total exposure of about 6 hours in RGB was reinforced with over 4 hours of Ha, highlighting the intense emission of Sh2-12 (only partially visible in the single frame posted). Spikes are added with StarSpikesPro to give, to my taste, more appeal to the cluster ().
What do you think?

Clear skies
Marco

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Gorgeous image Marco. Although that is a very inadequate way to describe such beauty. Probably the best M6 image I've seen.

[gregbradley]

Fantastic Marco. I looked at that one for a long time. Its very clear/transparent and sparkling and has quite a strong appeal. I like the brightness of the bright stars, yet you've got some detailed shadows, a nice range of colours - the red/crimson is offset nicely with the golden star fields.

Greg.

[LewisM]

Your TEC has spider vanes - you better send it to me to fix.

Very nice, as usual, but I would remove the starspikes. Artificially added artificial artifacts - there's a double negative

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Magical shot Marco! Nicely done!

I'm not a big fan of artificial spikes but it definitely works here.

Cheer, Marcus

[RickS (Rick)]

Magical is a good description. I like the spikes too.

Cheers,
Rick.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Another corker Marco. Love the colors. Very cool.

[Peter Ward]

Another masterpiece. Beautiful

[Paul Haese]

What do I think?

I don't mind the spikes. It sort of helps to hide few of those haloes and it is aesthetically pleasing too. I grew up on diffraction spikes so I don't mind seeing them in an image.

Colour is very nice with a few points of interest, but not an object on my imaging list. Its a nice view with that big sensor too.

Overall I like the image, spikes and all.

[jase (Jason)]

Very impressive Marco. You are the colour king. Fake diffraction spikes and all, still works for me. Well done.

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

Thanks all for your appreciation, I am glad you liked this image and also the choice of adding the spikes. I also want to dedicate this one to my second daughter that was born two days ago, now I have one more reason to stay up during the night

Clear skies to all!
Marco

[stevous67 (Steve M)]

Hahaha! Double congratulations! Beautiful effort.

Steve

[Nightskystargaz (Thomas)]

Marco,

Very nice image of M-6 the Butterfly Cluster .

CS,KLU,

,

Tom

[gvanhau (Geert)]

What a beautifull image!
Love the colors.

Geert

[Rex]

WOW! Marco that is the most stunning image I have seen of this area. Fantastic colours and love the dif spikes.

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter mate. think of all the fun you will have lol.

[atalas]

Nice work Marco.

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Marco.

Great colours!

Ross.

[IanP]

Fantastic Marco , although I'd prefer without spikes ..

[MrB (Simon)]

Congrats on another APOD Marco!
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140903.html

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Complete with fake star spikes too Merry Christmas!

Love your work Marco

Mike