The Dark Horse Rides Again

I've had this past weekend marked on my calendar since the middle of October. It was supposed to the first opportunity for this year to capture the core of the Milky Way, however clouds and rain made it impossible.

Fortunately on my trip down to Jekyll Island last weekend I was able to get a decent image early Monday morning. Since I was a little farther south than usual the Milky Way was a higher and thus visible sooner. If it hadn't been for the Moon lighting everything up it would have been nearly perfect.

The Dark Horse, or the Great Dark Horse Nebula is part of the Great Rift, a dark band of interstellar clouds that partially obscure the bright, star dense center of the Milky Way from our view. The horses head and legs point to Antares and show us the constellation Scorpius.

The rise of the Scorpion and Antares mean the Core of the Milky Way isn't far behind. So from now until late October you can look to the south first in the early mornings and finally in the early evening and catch a glimpse of the center our home galaxy.

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