AAO image reference UKS 26a. « Previous || Next »
Top left is NE. Image width is about 4 degrees
Image and text © 2000-2010, Australian Astronomical Observatory. Photograph from UK Schmidt plates by David Malin.
The dust clouds of the Milky Way are mostly dark, as is evident from a normal camera view of this part of the sky. The dark clouds contain gas and dust and are tightly constrained to the plane of the Milky Way. The dust hosts simple compounds that have condensed on the tiny grains and these molecules can be detected by radio telescopes. However, here and there stars have formed, lighting up the darkness. The brightest nebulae here are M20 (top) and M8 (lower centre) can be seen with the unaided eye in Sagittarius, and were catalogued by Charles Messier over 200 years ago.
Related images
AAT 12. The Trifid nebula, Messier 20
AAT 12a. The Trifid nebula, Messier 20 (wide field)
AAT 69. Reflection nebula around M20
AAT 69a. Reflection nebula around M20 (wide field)
AAT 30. The stars that excite the Trifid nebula>
AAT 31a. The Hourglass nebula and NGC 6530 cluster in M8
AAT 31. The Hourglass nebula in M8
UKS 3. NGC 6559 and IC 1274-75 in Sagittarius
UKS 5. The Lagoon nebula, Messier 8
UKS 7. Reflection nebula around M20
UKS 26. M8, M20 and the NGC 6559 nebula
Constellation of Sagittarius (external site)
For details of object position and photographic exposure, search technical table by UKS reference number.