The open star clusters known as M6 and M7 can be seen by the unaided eye under dark skies, just above the tail of Scorpius the Scorpion. M7 is composed of mostly yellow stars at a distance of about 800 light years from Earth. M6 is composed of mostly blue-white stars at a distance of about 1600 light years.
(Shown about 9:30 PM any night this week for mid-Northern latitudes; Mars' positions shown at five-day intervals from August 23rd through September 7th. Simulated binocular/low-power telescope views of M6 and M7 are shown in the insets.)
