I’m sorry, but I don’t know what I’m looking at exactly. Is the bright pinkish area in the center right (right of the dark clouds and continuing to the edge of the photo) the bright spot that Messier cataloged as M24?
Thanks, for an explanation. Thanks also, for posting this and all the amazing photos in the past.
Oldplayer
I think that the bright area and all except the dark spots are a gap in the dust band where the Sagittarius spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy can be seen. The dust bands obscure much of the spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy viewed from Earth.
Yes, in a smaller scope like Messier had, it would look like a cloud or a large comet (that’s what Mr. Messier was looking for anyway).
He would not have see the color, but, he may have noticed the darker regions against the starcloud behind.
There are also a few galactic clusters embedded in the cloud.