the heart of the Scorpion.

[Scott]

Last night it cleared around 23.30 so never to let a chance go by I ducked out into the garden.

After messing about with my astrotrac my attentions turned southward. I'm guessing it must of been around 2ish and Antares was sparkling away as it does, like oil on water changing from vibrant red to emerald green/blue, for me, this is the most beautiful star you can ever hope to see, so I grabbed my little 130p heritage and a 32mm e.p. for a quick wander. Straight to Antares to soak up some more of it's mesmorising colour changes then it was off for a mandatory view of Saturn. 

As wonderful as he is, I was pushed for time, so I headed off for a cuppa at Sag., starting with M23 (the first I stumbled upon), then over to M25 and finally up to M16. 

If some law was passed restricting me to one area of the sky I would choose here and be quite content.

Spending most of my time with a camera shoved into the e.p. it was great to do some visual astronomy again and return to an area I've not been back to for too long. Rest assured, I'll be back there tonight, e.p.'s at the ready if the weather gods allow. As I said, it's been far too long .

[swamp thing]

It's a wonderful area of sky down there isn't it. You don't even need a star chart just wander about and you'll bump into some awesome sights.

The nebulae are simply fabulous, and that M24 could amuse me all night. It's one of the few open clusters that really enjoy aperture. The bigger the scope the more stars that keep on popping out at ya. Superb.

[Mike73]

Completely agree it's gotta be the best part of the night sky and l'll be taking my first look at it this year tonight!

I'd love to see this area at a lower latitude to really see those gems shine.

[Scott]

Completely agree it's gotta be the best part of the night sky and l'll be taking my first look at it this year tonight!

I'd love to see this area at a lower latitude to really see those gems shine.

So true Mike, I saw them from Aust a couple of years ago. pretty well straight over head . still, we've got our own gems up here too

[andrew63]

It's  a great area to tour with binoculars also.

andrew

[dick_dangerous]

I wanted to stay up for Scorpius to try and "Tick off" M80, but I got cold feet so went to bed. Lovely part of the sky...

DD