Notes: |
Under a dark sky, this object looks very much like a comet sitting in the tail of the
scorpion. It goes by several names including the False Comet and the Northern Jewel Box.
NGC6231 is the small cluster near the bottom of the image. Extending up from NGC6231
is a streamer of stars leading to a much looser cluster designated as H12. To the naked
eye, this streamer and group of stars look like a tail coming off the 'comet.'
IC4628 is the red nebula at the top of the image. Of interest at the bottom of
the image are two stars - Zeta 1 (on the right) and Zeta 2 (the red one on the left).
Although the leftmost star appears larger, this is a result of the film's higher
sensitivity to the star's red color. In fact, it is Zeta 1 that is the more luminous
star. It lies at the same distance as the small cluster, but has an absolute magnitude of
-8. This makes it one of the brightest stars known in the Galaxy. |