M24 and Neighbours: This section of the sky is one of the most spectacularl! Some of the most impressive Messier objects are assembled in this area.
This wide-angle image shows in the center M24, which has been included by Messier into his famous catalogue. Nevertheless it is not an object in the pure astronomical sense like e.g. an Open Cluster. It is an aggregation of stars in a distance between 12000 to 16000 LY, which shine through a window in the central dust band of Milky Way.It is also called Small Sagittarius Cloud.

Along the image diagonal from lower left to upper right one finds Eagle Nebula(M16), Swan Nebula(M17), Lagoon Nebula(M8) and Trifid Nebula(M20). At the upper edge of the image the Open Cluster M23 can be found and at the lower one M25. But not enough: In the lower right corner M22, one of the brightest Globular Clusters can be detected.