This wide-field deep-sky image captures two of the southern sky's finest globular clusters, Messier 22 (M22) and Messier 28 (M28), set against the dense star fields of the Milky Way's central bulge in the constellation Sagittarius.
Located approximately 10,600 light-years away, M22 is one of the closest and brightest globular clusters to Earth, containing hundreds of thousands of ancient stars. Nearby lies M28, a more compact cluster located roughly 18,000 light-years away. Embedded across this field are several notable deep-sky objects, including the planetary nebulae NGC 6629, NGC 6644, and the intracluster planetary nebula GJJC 1, alongside numerous variable and carbon stars.
This wide-field deep-sky image captures two of the southern sky's finest globular clusters, Messier 22 (M22) and Messier 28 (M28), set against the dense star fields of the Milky Way's central bulge in the constellation Sagittarius.
Located approximately 10,600 light-years away, M22 is one of the closest and brightest globular clusters to Earth, containing hundreds of thousands of ancient stars. Nearby lies M28, a more compact cluster located roughly 18,000 light-years away. Embedded across this field are several notable deep-sky objects, including the planetary nebulae NGC 6629, NGC 6644, and the intracluster planetary nebula GJJC 1, alongside numerous variable and carbon stars.