M 80 is one of the most dense of the globular clusters known.
It packs several 100,000s of stars into a diameter of about 95
light years. M 80 is 32,600 light years from earth, and is located
in the summer Milky Way just north of the star Antares in Scorpius.

Although it is rare to see galaxies through the dense stars
and dust of the Milky Way, there are two distant galaxies visible
in this image. If you view the "original" size, near the bottom
left corner you can spot IC 4596, a spiral galaxy. It will look like
a fuzzy reddish star with very faint extensions. Above and
slightly to the right of this galaxy, you can spot another
"fuzzy star", the spiral galaxy IC 4600.

Image data:
Camera: Canon 350 XT (modified)
Exposure: ISO 800, 1 minute x 40
Telescope: 10" Schmidt-Newtonian, Baader coma corrector