Rho Ophiuchi Area - 2018 (Gary Imm)

Rho Ophiuchi Area - 2018

This image is a collection of amazing and colorful deep sky objects located in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is often called the Rho Ophiuchi area. The objects in this 4 panel mosaic include star clusters, reflection nebula, emission nebula, and dark nebula, the closest of which are about 500 light years away

I think this is the prettiest region in the entire sky, and certainly the most colorful. Shades of almost every color of the rainbow are seen in this area of the sky.

The red supergiant star Antares is just off image, above the top center. Its glow permeates the entire top half of the image. To the upper left is the large globular cluster M4. To the right of M4, at top center, is the smaller star cluster NGC 6144. To the upper right is the blue reflection nebula, IC 4605, which surrounds the star 22 Scorpii.

In the left center of the image, the bright blue star Sigma Scorpii is ionizing the SH2-9 red hydrogen emission gas front. In the right center of the image is the beautiful and unusual yellow reflection nebula, IC 4603. The dark nebula B45 extends up and to the right of this reflection nebula.

The namesake Rho Ophiuchi is the bright triple star in the lower right of the image. It is surrounded by a blue reflection nebula, designated as IC 4604. Just to the lower left of IC 4604 is the dark nebula, B42. Just to the lower left of the dark nebula is the lighter blue reflection nebula, IC 6404.

I absolutely love this part of the sky. My favorite aspect of the image are the delicate dark dust lanes which populate the lower right quadrant, silhouetted against the bright stars and contrasting with the yellow and blue reflection nebulae.

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	2143969
PixInsight job	7AP8AIIE7DGCVQ1UJPBOQWB0WY00S76R
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

RA (center)	16h23m58s.14
RA (top/left)	16h21m43s.98
RA (top/right)	16h35m05s.46
RA (bottom/right)	16h26m07s.80
RA (bottom/left)	16h12m47s.71

Dec (center)	-24°48′42″.8
Dec (top/left)	-27°18′38″.1
Dec (top/right)	-24°28′39″.8
Dec (bottom/right)	-22°18′38″.5
Dec (bottom/left)	-25°05′40″.5

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