by Joe Stieber » Tue Jul 24, 2018 6:41 pm
I was curious about the position of (4) Vesta in the picture, which would also provide the actual date (and I didn't want to log into FB to see if there was more info; also, no EXIF data this time).
Vesta is the relatively bright, star-like object to the left of, and slightly lower than the open cluster, M23. Its position corresponds with a date of June 12, 2018, in the early morning hours local time. The position of Saturn, the bright object at the left edge, is also consistent with June 12.
To find Vesta, draw a line from the Lagoon Nebula (M8, the brightest object in the picture, with a reddish tinge) upwards through the Trifid nebula (M20, also bright and reddish, but not nearly as large as M8) for about 2.5 times the spacing between M8 and M20. The line will pass between Vesta on the left and M23 on the right.
I was curious about the position of (4) Vesta in the picture, which would also provide the actual date (and I didn't want to log into FB to see if there was more info; also, no EXIF data this time).
Vesta is the relatively bright, star-like object to the left of, and slightly lower than the open cluster, M23. Its position corresponds with a date of June 12, 2018, in the early morning hours local time. The position of Saturn, the bright object at the left edge, is also consistent with June 12.
To find Vesta, draw a line from the Lagoon Nebula (M8, the brightest object in the picture, with a reddish tinge) upwards through the Trifid nebula (M20, also bright and reddish, but not nearly as large as M8) for about 2.5 times the spacing between M8 and M20. The line will pass between Vesta on the left and M23 on the right.