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Old 02-06-2016, 10:27 PM
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andyc (Andy)
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Sydney
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Dark gecko on starry sand! (and hidden clusters)

OK, a fairly fanciful name for a classic view towards the Galactic Centre, but I like the idea of the little critter scuttling across the sand! There's just an incredible number of stars here, and a couple of hidden treats with globular clusters Djorgovski 2 & 3, as well as NGC6520 and B86. The paper by Bica et al (1994) on NGC6540 (Djorgovski 3) puts the background stars somewhere near 25,000 light-years away (getting close to the galactic centre), and Djorg 3 at 11,500ly distant, so in front, rather than within the main groundmass of stars. It seems surprising that Djorg 2 was only found in 1987 as it appears quite distinctive. NGC6520 and B86 are both somewhere near 6,000ly away, quite a lot closer. The sky was transparent enough that at the same time, Djorg 2 was easily visible as a hazy patch in the 16".

NGC6520 & B86, 100%
Full frame, 50%
NGC6540, 100%
Djorgovski 2, 100%

26 x 5 minutes, EOS 60D on 200mm f/5 Newtonian. Seeing could've been a wee bit better, and it was pretty windy.
Attached Thumbnails
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