NGC 6528 & NGC 6522 - The Sibling Globs

These two globular clusters appear together in the sky. In fact, they are together! The one on the right lies about 25,400 light years away, and the one on the left 25,700 lights years. They are near neighbors! Both are roughly 2,000 light years from the center of the galaxy. Source. What intrigues me is that they can be seen in a single view through the telescope. They light just north of the star which tips the spout of the teapot that is Sagittarius. It's as if they were two balls of steam puffed out of the teapot itself! Both are reddened and dimmed because they lie in the plane of the galaxy behind a great deal of dust. And, because they lie in the plane of the galaxy, they appear surrounded by stars.

This image is actually two panels combined, taken with the AT8RC through the SXVF-H9C at the scope's native f/8. Processing was done in Neb2, Maxim, and PS CS3 and Photoshop Elements 7 with a Carboni action for star color. Exposure time was a mere 5x3' for each panel.