Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Serpens (Ser)  ·  Contains:  B312  ·  B313  ·  B95  ·  Checkmark Nebula  ·  Eagle Nebula  ·  HD164027  ·  HD164165  ·  HD164187  ·  HD164221  ·  HD164290  ·  HD164399  ·  HD164413  ·  HD164468  ·  HD164484  ·  HD164485  ·  HD164511  ·  HD164617  ·  HD164830  ·  HD164856  ·  HD164932  ·  HD165048  ·  HD165149  ·  HD165150  ·  HD165201  ·  HD165284  ·  HD165319  ·  HD165361  ·  HD165362  ·  HD165379  ·  HD165403  ·  And 716 more.
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Heart of the Milky Way, #16, Molly Wakeling
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Heart of the Milky Way, #16

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Heart of the Milky Way, #16, Molly Wakeling
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Heart of the Milky Way, #16

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Some celestial fireworks!
I got to go camping out at my astronomy club's dark sky site this weekend, although only for one night due to storms and then clouds. But I was happy to finally get the camper out of the driveway for a bit! I dragged a few friends along too
We are looking toward the heart of the Milky Way, thick with dust and stars and dotted with nebulae. The bright nebula on the lower left is M17, the Swan Nebula; I think it looks like a fountain or a flower. Up and to the right of M17 is M16, the Eagle Nebula -- it's clear from this vantage point where the name comes from!
On the upper right is a red-glowing hydrogen region called Sh2-54 (Sharpless catalog); I couldn't find a specific name for the bright circular region inside of it. The cluster of stars within it is cataloged as NGC 6604. Lots of other open clusters in this area too!

The Star Adventurer kept coming out of polar alignment -- I think the tripod might have been sinking into the grass while I was getting the camera pointed at the target. As a result, I was limited to 30s exposures...but under some darker skies than my house (but still with a light pollution filter), it still makes for a decent image!

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Heart of the Milky Way, #16, Molly Wakeling

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