The False Comet

NOTES DATE: Thursday, May 9, 2002 FILM: Kodak LE400 EXPOSURE: 20 minutes LOCATION: Texas Star Party (Prude Ranch near Fort Davis, Texas) INSTRUMENT: 135 mm lens @ f/4 piggybacked on 10" LX200. PROCESSING: Negative scanned with Epson Perfection 3200.  Further enhancements made with Adobe Photoshop 7.0 COMMENTS: NGC 6231 is known as the "False Comet" due to its uncanny resemblance to a large, bright comet.  To fully appreciate this comet-like appearance, you must view it under dark, transparent skies (like in West Texas).  NGC 6231 (composed of an open cluster and associated nebula) is located 5900 light-years away in the tail of Scorpius the Scorpion.  It can be located between the lovely double stars Mu Scorpii (above) and Zeta Scorpii (below), which are also visible in this photograph.