This wide field image of two of the summer sky's showpieces
shows how they rest in a complex area of gas, dust, and star
clusters along the Milky Way's disk. Along with the unusual
combination of red emission and blue reflection nebulae that make
up the Trifid Nebula, and the Lagoon Nebula with its extensions
to the left which seem to form a cosmic foot, the open cluster M 21
is at the very top of this image. At the bottom of the image is
the much more distant globular cluster, NGC 6544. For a sense
of scale, 25 full moons would fit in this image.

Image Data:
Telescope: William Optics Zenithstar 66mm, 0.6x reducer / flattener
Camera: SBIG ST-4000XCM
Exposure: 3 1/2 hours (10 minutes x 21)