43 minutes exposure, Kodak Ektachrome 200 slide film.
5" f/5 refractor at prime focus.
Visible to the naked eye, NGC 3293 would be much better known and appreciated, if it were not for its location. A compact cluster of bright stars, it is quite a nice object for the telescope. However it is located near the northern edge of the magnificent NGC 3372! As a result, most observers do not notice it.
In the image above, NGC 3293 is the bright cluster close to the centre, while the mass of nebulosity to the lower left is NGC 3372. There is a total of 9 open clusters in this image. Apart from NGC 3293, there is IC 2581 in the upper right corner, to the right of NGC 3293 is the weak cluster Ru 90, and just to the right of that is the very small Ru 89. To the lower left of GC 3293, surrounded by the tip of NGC 3372, is NGC 3324, while surrounding the bright star just below this cluster is the small Loden 165. Further down towards the bottom of the image is a scattered cluster of bright stars. This is VDB-Ha 99. to the left of this group is another scattered group Bochum 10. Finally, just above the brightest portion of NGC 3372, is the small cluster Cr 231.