RA 16h 55m · Dec -40° 00′

2°

A six by eleven degree sweep along the tail of Scorpius from Deep Sky Chile, on a 135 mm camera lens. The Prawn Nebula sits near the centre, small only because the field is so wide, among open clusters and the dust lanes of the southern Milky Way. First light on a Chile telescope for this programme.

Object

Scorpius tail

IC 4628 field · Scorpius

We don’t yet know how old these photons are.

LLuminance. A broad clear (UV/IR-blocked) channel that carries the fine detail in an LRGB image.

iTelescope T70iTelescope Samyang 135 mm @ f/3.5Deep Sky Chile, Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile · Samyang 135mm camera-lens astrograph · Focal length 135mm · f/3.5 · Camera ZWO ASI2600MM (Sony IMX571…View equipment →RRed broadband channel of an RGB set.

⧉ 4 versions of this capture — pick one to see its image and log

Date: 21/09/2026
Location: Deep Sky Chile (remote)
Integration: 100m (L 8, R 4, G 4, B 4 x 300s)
Software: PythonastropyastroalignSEPscikit-imagephotutilsAstrometry.net
Notes: Luminance deconvolved with stars protected. Solved on 637 stars, residual 0.26 px (1.56 arcsec); pointing was 0.01 degrees from target. First and only version of this target: 100 minutes on 2026-09-21.
Total effort: 6h 40m over 1 night
Moon: 🌔Waxing gibbous, 73% lit
Plate solve
Centre RA: 16.915826666667
Centre Dec: -39.99917
Field: 10.426666666667
Pixel scale: 6.0079
Orientation: 96.35
Hemisphere: Southern

Also in this frame

IC4628NGC 6242IC 4628NGC 6227NGC 6268NGC 6231IC 4637NGC 6281NGC 6256NGC 6192C69NGC 6222NGC 6249NGC 6216NGC 6169

Catalogued objects inside the plate-solved field, nearest the centre first.

TelescopeiTelescope T70

Where to find it

Finder chart

Star field and catalogued objects inside the plate-solved field, oriented to the solve. Fully offline, from the bundled star and deep-sky catalogues.

Interactive sky chart centred on 16.915826666667 -39.99917. Drag to pan, scroll to zoom, click a star or object to identify it. Zoom in to the plate-solved field for the DSS survey photo; zoom out for constellation figures and neighbouring catalogue objects. Fully self-hosted: the star and deep-sky catalogues and the survey image are all served from this site, so nothing external loads. Imagery: DSS2 colour (STScI / POSS-II). Constellation figures © Dominic Ford (GPLv3).

Captured remotely from · Ovalle, Chile

Bortle 2 · truly dark

Deep Sky Chile · view on OpenStreetMap ↗ · Place data © GeoNames (CC BY)

Frequently asked questions

Which constellation is IC 4628 field in?

IC 4628 field lies in the constellation Scorpius.

What are the coordinates of IC 4628 field?

IC 4628 field sits at right ascension 16h 54m 57s and declination −39° 59′ 57″ (J2000).

When is the best time to photograph IC 4628 field?

IC 4628 field rides highest in the evening sky around June, reaching about 81° above the horizon from Deep Sky Chile (31°S).

What else is in this frame?

The plate-solved field also contains NGC 6242, NGC 6227, NGC 6268, NGC 6231, IC 4637, NGC 6281, NGC 6256, and NGC 6192, among others.

What equipment was used to photograph IC 4628 field?

This image of IC 4628 field was captured with iTelescope T70.

How much exposure time went into this image?

This image of IC 4628 field represents 100m (L 8, R 4, G 4, B 4 x 300s) of total integration time.

Scorpius tail

Where to find it

Frequently asked questions

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