Barnard 86 and NGC 6520

Dust cloud Barnard 86 and open cluster NGC 6520

The majority of old stars in our Galaxy, as in most others, are yellowish in colour. This is because the hotter, bright blue stars have relatively short but spectacular lives. We see these old stars in vast numbers as the brightest patches of the Milky Way and a powerful telescope like the AAT is needed to see them as individuals. Superimposed on this distant background is a small cluster of young blue stars, NGC 6520. In the same region and possibly associated with the cluster is a dark cloud, Barnard 86. The cluster and cloud are probably associated and the dust is visible only because it blocks out light from the myriads of stars beyond.

AAO image reference AAT 22.
© Anglo-Australian Observatory, Photograph by David Malin, text © David Malin.

NGC 6520  OC 18 03.4  -27 54 s  Sgr     6   8. p Cl, pS, Ri, lC, st 9...13

For details of photographic exposure, search technical table by AAT reference number.