Grandeur Around Gemini South

Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory which is supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, sits high atop Cerro Pachón in Chile, surrounded by gems of the southern night sky. One of these gems, the center of our Milky Way, is also the center of this image. The heart of our galaxy, densely packed with stars, is home to a supermassive black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, surrounded by the colossal clouds of cosmic dust of the Great Rift. While difficult to see in this image, these dark clouds house many interesting and beautiful deep-sky objects, like Ptolemy’s Cluster (Messier 7) and the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334). Below the densest part of the Milky Way in this image is the constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion), which is best seen from southern latitudes. Its three-pronged ‘head’ and ‘claws’ stretch out from the ‘heart of the scorpion’, the bright red supergiant star Antares. To the right of Scorpius is the large deep red emission nebula Sh2-27, surrounding the star Zeta Ophiuchi. With all these dazzling objects, the southern sky is a favorite for astronomers and astrophotographers alike.

This photo was taken as part of the NOIRLab 2022 Photo Expedition to all the NOIRLab sites. Petr Horálek, the photographer, is a NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador. Fulldome and 360 panorama versions of this photo are available.