Binoculars Along the Spine of the Scorpion

Antares, M4, & Rho Oph
Antares, M4, and Rho Ophiuchi
Sketch and details by Michael Rosolina

Scorpius is well placed right now for northern hemisphere observers and holds many beautiful and interesting objects. Scanning the constellation with widefield binoculars can be particularly rewarding. I found that I could see this trio all at the same time with my 15×70 binoculars. They make an interesting combination: Antares, a red giant, Rho Ophiuchus, a bright binocular triple, and Messier 4, a globular cluster containing countless stars.

The sketch was done in the field with 2B and HB pencils and a stump loaded with 4B graphite for M4. I then scanned and inverted the sketch digitally, colorised Antares, and added a little blur (5%).

There are many images of this region–time exposures showing the stars embedded in glowing clouds of gas and dust. None of that can be seen visually, but the binocular view has its own beauty.

Michael Rosolina
Friars Hill, WV USA

2 thoughts on “Binoculars Along the Spine of the Scorpion”

  1. Michael,

    Impressive widefield sketching. I like this well selected view and great write up. This is exceptional.

    Frank 🙂

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