SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
massimo.difusco
Location of Photo:
Chile
Date/Time of photo:
01/10/2024 00:00
Equipment:
TelescopeLive data: Planewave CDK24, FLI Proline PL9000 camera, LRGB filters
Description:
Messier 7 (M7), also known as Ptolemy’s Cluster or NGC 6475, is a bright open cluster in Scorpius constellation that lies at an approximate distance of 980 light years from Earth. With a visual magnitude of 3.3 and an apparent diameter of 80 arc minutes (more than twice the apparent size of the full Moon), Ptolemy’s Cluster is an easy naked-eye target. The cluster is the southernmost Messier object in the sky, which makes it a challenging object for those in northern latitudes as Scorpius constellation never rises very high above the horizon. M7 is one of the most prominent open clusters in the sky, known since antiquity. It was named Ptolemy’s Cluster because it was first recorded by the Greek astronomer and mathematician Claudius Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
