A telescopic tour of th constellationSagittarius offers the manybright clusters and nebulae o dimensioned space in starscapesurrounding th galactic center.This gorgeou colordeep-sky photograph visits two such lovely sights,cataloged by the 18th century cosmic touris CharlesMessier as M8 and M20.M20 (upper left) the Trifid Nebula, presents a striking contrast inred/blue colors and dark dust lanes.Just below and to the right is theexpansive, alluring red glow of M8 the Lagoon Nebula.Both nebulae are a few thousand light-years distantbut at the far right, the dominant celestial beacon is a "local"source, theplanet Mars.Just passing through Sagittarius andstrongly overexposed in this picture the Red Planetwas a short 4 light-minutes away Now headedfor it closest approach to planetEarth in recorded history, Mars rises in the east southeastby midnight shining brightly at about -1. magnitude Urban imagerMichael Cole recorded this photograph at 3:00 AM on May 20th, 2001in clear skies over Camp Hancock, Oregon, USA.
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