March Milky Way Madness

I usually get excited about the Milky Way a little later in the year, when Scorpius, Sagitarius, and Scutum are high in the sky. But this past Sunday, the Milky Way running from Orion, on down to the Southern Cross was just beautiful. Pierre and I were set up out at our South End Roadside Observatory. Since he and Marlies are heading back to Switzerland soon, this was probably Pierre's last moonless observing session on Bonaire. And boy was it a good one.

This picture, a combination of two shots made with a 85mm lens, shows a part of the Milky Way that was running a little to the East of Canus Major. I've labled some stars and lots of star clusters, most of which we've observed in Pierre's big binoculars. There are a few objects that turned up in the photo that I'll still need to chase down in the sky some day.

There is a larger version of this image here, for those of you who have a fast Internet connecton and want to see a little more detail.