Heart of the Scorpion

[AndysAstroPix]

Sh2-9, also called Gum 65 is combination emission and reflection nebula in the Scorpius constellation, surrounding the multiple star system Sigma Scorpii. The nebula is northeast of the globular cluster, Messier 4.

Although it was a tricky challenge to image this under my suburban Bortle 6/7 skies, I'm quite pleased with the outcome. The complimentary colours of cool Al-Niyat and warm M4 seem to balance one another nicely. The big Tak has it's spacing perfect now, and I finally have round stars in all four corners, and the star definition in M4 itself is remarkable.

I've ordered a new TOA-35 reducer to give me a wider FOV, so when that arrives, I'll be able to frame some of these larger objects with a bit more "space" to allow context.

Larger version & capture details on ASTROBIN

C&C welcome

[peter shah]

That's beautiful Andy, I love the framing and richness of M4, stars all the way into the core

[AndysAstroPix]

14 hours ago, peter shah said:

That's beautiful Andy, I love the framing and richness of M4, stars all the way into the core

Cheers Peter, was a challenging one to process, but I'm overall happy with the result! 😇