72 ASTRONOMY • SEPTEMBER 2015
- STELLAR SAPPHIRES
The Southern Pleiades (IC 2602) is
a dazzling open star cluster in the
constellation Carina the Keel. Some
observers call it the Theta Carinae
Cluster because its luminary is the
magnitude 2.7 star of that name. At low
power, this object looks like two clus-
ters separated by a 0.3° gulf. (16-inch
Dream Telescopes Astrograph at f/3.75,
Apogee Alta U16M CCD camera, HαRGB
image with exposures of 180, 30, 30,
and 30 minutes, respectively)
- Kfir Simon
- FUTURE STARS
The region of the Taurus Molecular
Cloud includes a vast amount of dust
and ultra-cold gas that eventually will
condense to form stars. Astronomers
have found many complex molecules
— organic as well as inorganic —
within the cloud. (Canon 6D DSLR,
Nikon 600mm f/4 ED IF lens set at f/4
and f/6, ISO 1600, two hundred and
sixty 10-minute exposures, stacked)
- Scott Rosen
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