Several clouds of stars surrounded by a few dark regions for contrast can be seen with binoculars in the bright area of the Milky Way about halfway between the star Altair and the constellation of Sagittarius.

Four faint stars in a stretched-out diamond are about all that is visible of Scutum, the Shield. The Shield was described as a constellation by Hevelius, a 17th Century astronomer, who christened it with the fantastic moniker, Scutum Sobiesciarium in honor of John Sobieski, a Polish king who defeated the Turks at Vienna in 1683. One of the Milky Way's great star clouds is also within Scutum.

Near the northern star of the Shield is the 11^th entry in Messier's catalogue. Messier 11 is one of the richest and most compact of galactic clusters, described by one experienced observer as resembling "a flight of wild ducks."

In his definitive "Celestial Handbook," Robert Burnham, Jr. (1931-1993) wrote: "In binoculars or a low-power telescope it at first resembles a globular (cluster). But with increasing magnification the stars draw apart, finally revealing M11 as a rich swarm of glittering star points, somewhat triangular in shape with one brighter star near the center, but no real central nucleus."

Deep-sky authority Walter Scott Houston (1912-1993), who had a regular column in Sky & Telescope magazine for nearly half a century, noted that in his 10-inch reflector, M11 resembled, "a carpet of sparkling suns to the very center with outlyers swarming on all sides."

Why not try bagging the wild ducks for yourself tonight?

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