A frame filled with stars beyond counting while looking into a small part of the core of our Milky Way galaxy. This area of the sky is endlessly entrancing as you see the immensity of our galaxy demonstrated in a very dramatic fashion.
At the center is the small star cluster NGC6520 and the dark nebula B86. These two create one of my favorite showpiece views when viewing from a dark site with a large telescope. Even many people who have done a fair amount of observing have never looked at a dark nebula before. A great object to select when other telescopes are showing the usual stuff.
The photo is the sum of five separate five minute exposures with the Canon 20Da and a TV-76mm telescope. Taken from my driveway in Waikoloa the image is about two degrees (four times the width of the full Moon) from top to bottom.
