James Shimoji Astrophotography
The region around Antares
The region around Antares (Scorpius) is one of the most amazing and beautiful in the entire night sky. It contains a complex mix of emission nebulae, reflection nebulae, dust lanes which obscure the background stars, and star clusters.
The giant yellow star Antares dominates the central region of this photo and it is surrounded by an emission nebula to the south and a very rare and beautiful yellow reflection nebula to the north. To the north of the photo is the tri-star Rho Ophiuchus which is surrounded by a large blue reflection nebula called IC 4604.
The dark dust lanes of the Milky Way can be seen spiralling eastwards from this region. The small bright reflection nebula to the north of Antares is IC 4605, reflecting the light from the magnitude 4.5 star 22 Scorpious. To the right of the photo is the bright star Sigma Scorpious surrounded by the bright emission nebula Sh2-9. To the south east of this can be seen the bright globular cluster M4. Finally to the north west of Antares is the small globular cluster NGC 6144
equipment: Takahashi FSQ106ED 645RD & Canon 5Dmark2 SP2
guide: Starlightxpress Loadstar,400mm Guide Scope, and MaximDl
exposure: ISO1600 300sec x72
March to April 2015
site: Chiba & Yamanashi, Japan
The region around Antares
The region around Antares (Scorpius) is one of the most amazing and beautiful in the entire night sky. It contains a complex mix of emission nebulae, reflection nebulae, dust lanes which obscure the background stars, and star clusters.
The giant yellow star Antares dominates the central region of this photo and it is surrounded by an emission nebula to the south and a very rare and beautiful yellow reflection nebula to the north. To the north of the photo is the tri-star Rho Ophiuchus which is surrounded by a large blue reflection nebula called IC 4604.
The dark dust lanes of the Milky Way can be seen spiralling eastwards from this region. The small bright reflection nebula to the north of Antares is IC 4605, reflecting the light from the magnitude 4.5 star 22 Scorpious. To the right of the photo is the bright star Sigma Scorpious surrounded by the bright emission nebula Sh2-9. To the south east of this can be seen the bright globular cluster M4. Finally to the north west of Antares is the small globular cluster NGC 6144
equipment: Takahashi FSQ106ED 645RD & Canon 5Dmark2 SP2
guide: Starlightxpress Loadstar,400mm Guide Scope, and MaximDl
exposure: ISO1600 300sec x72
March to April 2015
site: Chiba & Yamanashi, Japan