This spectacular globular cluster is called Messier 22 or Great Sagittarius Cluster. It’s located, surprisingly, in constellation Sagittarius, close to Galactic Bulge, therefore the background is illuminated by many stars. Oh, and it’s so many of them. If you realize that each bright dot is a star and most probably not just a star, but whole solar system, it makes you think how big the universe is. The distance from Earth only 10’000 light-years, makes this cluster the closest one to us.

Due to its low declination, it’s quite difficult to photograph this cluster from Central Europe. Therefore I took the opportunity and captured M22 on Milos Island. The picture is an integration of only 94 minutes.

Technical details:

TelescopeNewton 150/600 mm
Aperture150 mm
Focal length660 mm
MountiOptron CEM25P
AutoguidingQHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
CameraZWO 071 Pro @-10C
CorrectorExplore Scientific HR coma corrector
FiltersAstronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure47x120s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date2018-09-04