MSGID: 1:153/757.0 56323648
TZUTC: -0700
CHRS: LATIN-1 2
                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2025 July 19

                                  Messier 6
                     Image Credit & Copyright: Xinran Li

   Explanation: The sixth object in Charles Messier's famous catalog of
   things which are not comets, Messier 6 is a galactic or open star
   cluster. A gathering of 100 stars or so, all around 100 million years
   young, M6 lies some 1,600 light-years away toward the central Milky Way
   in the constellation Scorpius. Also cataloged as NGC 6405, the pretty
   star cluster's outline suggests its popular moniker, the Butterfly
   Cluster. Surrounded by diffuse reddish emission from the region's
   hydrogen gas the cluster's mostly hot and therefore blue stars are near
   the center of this colorful cosmic snapshot. But the brightest cluster
   member is a cool K-type giant star. Designated BM Scorpii it shines
   with a yellow-orange hue, seen near the end of one of the butterfly's
   antennae. This telescopic field of view spans nearly 2 Full Moons on
   the sky. That's 25 light-years at the estimated distance of Messier 6.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
 * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
SEEN-BY: 1/19 16/0 19/10 37 105/81 106/201 123/130 128/187 129/14
SEEN-BY: 129/305 134/100 142/104 153/135 143 148 151 757 6809 7083
SEEN-BY: 153/7715 154/110 201/0 203/0 218/700 840 221/1 6 242 360
SEEN-BY: 226/30 227/114 229/110 206 307 317 400 426 428 664 700 705
SEEN-BY: 240/5832 266/512 280/5003 5006 291/111 301/1 320/119 219
SEEN-BY: 320/319 2119 322/757 762 335/364 341/66 342/200 396/45 423/81
SEEN-BY: 460/58 633/280 712/848 902/26 5020/400 5075/35
PATH: 153/757 221/6 1 320/219 229/426