Photo I took on the night of 7/7/2013

[aleetk]

Can I confirm with the experts here whether I managed to capture the constellation of scorpius in this photo or am I just fantasizing that I did? Also, is that part of the milky way band running horizontally right across scorpius?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98832106@N03/9274385665/

[zymon]

I must say that I find I hard to see any constellations because the eye does not see the stars like this. Scorpio is unmistakable when viewing with the naked eye.

[cloud_cover]

Zymon: The eyes definitely see much more stars than this in dark skies. Wait till you take a trip to some really dark place where the ground is lit up by the milky way: I guarantee you'll be lost! A 50mm finderscope is also overwhelming in that situation If you have the chance to, join the gang on one of their usual new-moon outings to Mersing. You'll be left gaping And that's really only "mediocre" as far as dark skies go.

aleetk: Yes, you did capture Scorpio. I can't download your photo or otherwise I'd label it for you but the downward pointing pentagon in the center, upper 1/3 with bottom red star is Antares, the heart of the scorpion. You've cut off the top 3 stars representing the head and arms of the scorpion, which is why it doesn't look like a "classical" scorpio. The smudge to 8 o'clock about 1/5th of the width of the picture away from Antares is probably M19, a globular cluster in the constellation of Ophiuchus.
If you follow the body of the scorpion down vertically, about halfway between the middle and lower 1/3 line of the photo, a little to the right just as you enter the milky way (yes), the smudge of stars is the False Comet region of the tail of the Scorpion. About the same level and reflected to the left of the midline (taking Antares to be on the midline) are the twin stars of the stinger and tail, Shaula and Lesath. A very beautiful pair to see in binos. They point towards another smudge of stars a short distance away, M7. Above M7 vertically, a much smaller smudge represents M6.
There are lots more notable objects to be seen in this photo but I'm lazy to point them out

A lot of these objects are easily visible in a small telescope even in light polluted Singapore, particularly M6/7 and the stars of Scorpio, so happy viewing and star-hopping! (which is an excellent way to learn your way around the sky )

[zymon]

Wow - Mersing sound unbelievable!

[aleetk]

Zymon: The eyes definitely see much more stars than this in dark skies. Wait till you take a trip to some really dark place where the ground is lit up by the milky way: I guarantee you'll be lost! A 50mm finderscope is also overwhelming in that situation If you have the chance to, join the gang on one of their usual new-moon outings to Mersing. You'll be left gaping And that's really only "mediocre" as far as dark skies go.

aleetk: Yes, you did capture Scorpio. I can't download your photo or otherwise I'd label it for you but the downward pointing pentagon in the center, upper 1/3 with bottom red star is Antares, the heart of the scorpion. You've cut off the top 3 stars representing the head and arms of the scorpion, which is why it doesn't look like a "classical" scorpio. The smudge to 8 o'clock about 1/5th of the width of the picture away from Antares is probably M19, a globular cluster in the constellation of Ophiuchus.
If you follow the body of the scorpion down vertically, about halfway between the middle and lower 1/3 line of the photo, a little to the right just as you enter the milky way (yes), the smudge of stars is the False Comet region of the tail of the Scorpion. About the same level and reflected to the left of the midline (taking Antares to be on the midline) are the twin stars of the stinger and tail, Shaula and Lesath. A very beautiful pair to see in binos. They point towards another smudge of stars a short distance away, M7. Above M7 vertically, a much smaller smudge represents M6.
There are lots more notable objects to be seen in this photo but I'm lazy to point them out

A lot of these objects are easily visible in a small telescope even in light polluted Singapore, particularly M6/7 and the stars of Scorpio, so happy viewing and star-hopping! (which is an excellent way to learn your way around the sky )

Thanks to cloud_cover for enlightening me about the milkyway. Here's the same photo but after some fooling and tweaking around with some settings in photoshop, I managed to get this. http://www.flickr.com/photos/98832106@N03/9301466734/ Seems to me the milkyway looks a bit clearer compared to my previous photo.

[Gary]

@aleetk - Congrats of capturing Scorpius and the Milky Way! You are definitely not fantasizing.

Your second photo does indeed show the Milky Way clearer. I can see the Dark Horse Nebula in it!

More info about this Dark Horse: http://www.exploresteamboat.com/news/20 ... ark-horse/

Keep shooting and improve your craft!

[antares2063]

I agree with cloud_cover on his statement . Some of my fondest memories of mersing with good conditions is when the grass is lit in a soft white glow!!! Not to mention the air temp will drop very fast too.

Regards,
Junwei

[looyaa]

Nice! Another milky way photo shot in SG!