Free Republic

Brian Philp has spent 34 years quietly amassing evidence to support his theory that Noviomagus, a small "trading post" town on a busy Roman route between London and the south coast, lies beneath fields next to St John the Baptist church in West Wickham, Kent. Academics now say that his theory is so strong there should be a full excavation of the site... The location of Noviomagus has tantalised historians for centuries because it is well-documented in Roman records but no credible material evidence has ever been found... The scholar Robert Talbot suggested Old Croydon as a possible site...

Explanation: This fifteen degree wide field of view stretches across the crowded starfields of Sagittarius toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. In fact, the center of the galaxy lies near the right edge of the rich starscape and eleven bright star clusters and nebulae fall near the center of the frame. All eleven are numbered entries in the catalog compiled by 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier. Gaining celebrity status with skygazers, M8 (Lagoon), M16 (Eagle), M17 (Omega), and M20 (Trifid) show off the telltale reddish hues of emission nebulae associated with star forming regions. But also eye-catching...