NGC 6520 with Barnard 86
An image of the open star cluster NGC 6520 and nearby dust cloud Barnard 86, in the constellation Sagittarius, one of the densest parts of our Galaxy. This image was taken on June 24th, 2007 at the NSF's Blanco 4-m telescope in CTIO, with B (blue), V (green) , I (orange) and H-alpha (red) filters. The bright young stars of this star cluster, which probably formed out of gas related to the nearby dust cloud, stand out in contrast to the background of older stars of the bulge of our Galaxy. This image was released during the 100 Hours of Astronomy webcast, "Around the World in 80 Telescopes" held from April 3-4, 2009, during the International Year of Astronomy 2009. View the recorded event from CTIO. See also this image of the Medusa Nebula from KPNO, which was also released during the webcast.
Credit:T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
About the Image
| Id: | noaoann09007a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | April 6, 2009 |
| Related announcements: | noaoann09007 |
| Size: | 8300 x 8269 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Barnard 86, NGC 6520 |
| Constellation: | Sagittarius |
| Category: | Star Clusters |
Image Formats
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 18 3 5.47 |
| Position (Dec): | -27° 52' 35.57" |
| Field of view: | 37.15 x 37.01 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 89.4° right of vertical |
Colors & filters
| Band | Wave-length | Tele-scope |
|---|---|---|
| Optical U | 355 nm | Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope Mosaic II |
| Optical B | 438 nm | Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope Mosaic II |
| Optical V | 538 nm | Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope Mosaic II |
| Optical I | 820 nm | Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope Mosaic II |
| Optical Ha | 657 nm | Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope Mosaic II |