NGC 6384 is somewhat
unique in that it's line of sight lies in the constellation
Ophiuchus not far from the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
As a result, we have to peer through many stars to see this
galaxy hence the large and relatively dense number of stars in
the image. Of course all of these stars are "foreground" stars
in our own galaxy and have distances of hundreds to thousands of
light-years compared to the distance to this galaxy at about 60
million light years. Light we observe today from NGC 6384 left
this galaxy not long after the dinosaurs on planet earth died
out. Compare this image for example with
NGC
7771 group in which there are few foreground stars in the
image. Statistics for NGC 6384 are RA: 17h 32m 24.6s, Dec: +07°
03' 38", Mag: 11.1 (B), Size: 7.0'x4.0', and Class: SAB(r)bc.
