Object Information:

 

 Messier 24 - The Sagittarius Star Cloud,
 Magnitude  -  4.6v,
 Constellation -  Pegasus,
 Distance -  12,000 to 16,000 light years distant,

 

The Night Sky Observers Guide, Volume 2, best describes Messier 24 as follows: 

"M24 is a section of a far interior spiral arm of our Galaxy, the Norma Spiral Arm, which we see framed by the dust clouds of the nearer Sagittarius-Carina Spiral Arm.  The dust clouds of the Sagittarius-Carina Arm, in which are embedded the Lagoon, the Trifid, and the Swan emission nebulae, lie from about 5,000 to around 7,000 light years from us: the stars which comprise the M24 star cloud are probably from 12,000 to 16,000 light years distant."

Note the numerous dark nebula, reflection nebula, emission nebula and open clusters seen in this frame.

  Imaged at: 

 

Grandview Campground, Inyo National Forest, California;
Elevation - 8500 feet

  Equipment:  

 

Optics - Takahashi E-160 at f/3.3,
Mount - Losmandy G-11 with SkyWalker Servo drive,
Camera - Nikon FM-2 using Kodak E200

Guided with the SBIG STV

  Exposure Information:

 

July 6, 2002
Average of four 20 minute exposures,
 

  Camera Control Software:

 

N/A

  Image Processing Software:

 

Image registration and combination - Registar; Processing - Photoshop 7