Saturday, Jul 5, 2025

NGC 6281 is an open star cluster located in the constellation Scorpius, approximately 1,600 light-years from Earth. It has an apparent magnitude of 5.4 and an angular diameter of about 15 arcminutes. The cluster is estimated to be 220 million years old and contains several dozen young stars. It is visible to the naked eye under dark skies. In deep-exposure astrophotographs, a diffuse red nebulosity appears in the background. This emission originates from ionized hydrogen (Hα) within the Milky Way’s plane and is not physically associated with the cluster. The nebulosity likely belongs to more distant interstellar clouds, possibly located in the Sagittarius-Carina spiral arm. This emission is mainly detectable using sensitive cameras and narrowband filters.