M23 is a large, bright open star cluster, which can be glimpsed with the naked eye in dark nights and is well-suited for binoculars and small-aperture telescopes. It contains about 129 stars spread over an area 27 arcminutes in diameter. Its distance is given as 2,150 light years.
The brownish stars which form the background for this cluster are part of the central bulge of our galaxy and are reddened by interstellar dust.
Milkyway in Sagittarius, telelens photograph.
Exposure Data
