The Butterfly Cluster, M6 (NGC 6405, Splendours of the Heavens) (Paul Lloyd)

Celestial hemisphere: Southern · Constellation: Scorpius (Sco) · Contains: B275 · Butterfly Cluster · HD159846 · HD160124 · HD160166 · HD160167 · HD160189 · HD160202 · HD160221 · HD160222 · HD160259 · HD160260 · HD160281 · HD160297 · HD160335 · HD160371 · HD160373 · HD160491 · HD160589 · HD318110 · M 6 · NGC 6405

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The Butterfly Cluster, M6 (NGC 6405, Splendours of the Heavens)

The “Butterfly Cluster” is so named because visually it (vaguely) resembles the insect. It can be found
North of the Scorpion’s “stinger”, West of the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6335) in the constellation, Scorpius,
and close to our Milky Way’s Galactic Centre. This places it in the foreground of the Milky Way’s central
bulge, as the dust and gas in the background of this image can attest.

It was first recorded by Hodierna in 1654, although there is some reason to believe that Ptolomey may
have observed it in the 2nd century CE as it is quite close to another star cluster that now bears his
name (M7, NGC 6475). It lies 1,600 ly away and is 12 ly across. Its age is estimated at just 94 My and is
populated by hot B-class (blue-white) stars. One notable exception to this is the bright star in the NE of the
cluster. This is a orange, K-type giant star catalogued as BM Scorpii. It is a semi-regular variable star
(mag. +5.5 to +7.0) that has been measured at 788 ly, thus making it a foreground star, and not a member
of the cluster.

Telescope: William Optics Redcat71 refractor, f=350mm
Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Pro, 32 x 120 sec, no filter
Bortle 3-4 sky, moonless (before moonrise)
Field of View: approx. 1º 00’ x 1º 25’
Image processed and prepared in PixInsight and Photoshop Elements

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Unknown

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	8453703
PixInsight job	01T01R0LSB98POQ1DZ5XRWEA9SJOQP7C
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	17h40m12s.81
RA (top/left)	17h42m39s.44
RA (top/right)	17h37m51s.19
RA (bottom/right)	17h37m42s.97
RA (bottom/left)	17h42m35s.46

Dec (center)	-32°15′36″.9
Dec (top/left)	-31°32′34″.4
Dec (top/right)	-31°31′37″.0
Dec (bottom/right)	-32°58′30″.9
Dec (bottom/left)	-32°59′27″.8

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The Butterfly Cluster, M6 (NGC 6405, Splendours of the Heavens)

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The Butterfly Cluster, M6 (NGC 6405, Splendours of the Heavens)

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