by APOD Robot » Mon May 24, 2010 4:05 am
Rho Ophiuchus Wide Field
Explanation: The clouds surrounding the star system Rho Ophiucus compose one of the closest star forming regions.
Rho Ophiucus itself is a
binary star system visible in the light-colored region on the image right. The star system, located only 400
light years away, is distinguished by its
colorful surroundings, which include a red
emission nebula and numerous light and dark brown dust lanes. Near the upper right of the Rho Ophiucus
molecular cloud system is the yellow star
Antares, while a distant but coincidently-superposed
globular cluster of stars,
M4, is visible between Antares and the red
emission nebula. Near the image bottom lies IC 4592, the
Blue Horsehead nebula. The blue glow that surrounds the Blue Horsehead's eye -- and other stars around the image -- is a reflection nebula composed of fine dust. On the
above image left is a geometrically angled reflection nebula
cataloged as
Sharpless 1. Here, the bright star near the dust vortex creates the light of surrounding
reflection nebula. Although most of
these features are visible through a small telescope pointed toward the constellations of
Ophiucus,
Scorpius, and
Sagittarius, the only way to see the intricate details of the dust swirls, as featured above, is to use a
long exposure camera.
[/b]
[url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100524.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_100524.jpg[/img] [size=150]Rho Ophiuchus Wide Field[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] The clouds surrounding the star system Rho Ophiucus compose one of the closest star forming regions. [url=http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/rhooph.html]Rho Ophiucus itself[/url] is a [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap970219.html]binary star system[/url] visible in the light-colored region on the image right. The star system, located only 400 [url=http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/how-far-is-a-light-year]light years[/url] away, is distinguished by its [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070903.html]colorful surroundings[/url], which include a red [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html]emission nebula[/url] and numerous light and dark brown dust lanes. Near the upper right of the Rho Ophiucus [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070321.html]molecular cloud system[/url] is the yellow star [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antares]Antares[/url], while a distant but coincidently-superposed [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/globular_clusters.html]globular cluster[/url] of stars, [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000523.html]M4[/url], is visible between Antares and the red [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html]emission nebula[/url]. Near the image bottom lies IC 4592, the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090521.html]Blue Horsehead nebula[/url]. The blue glow that surrounds the Blue Horsehead's eye -- and other stars around the image -- is a reflection nebula composed of fine dust. On the [url=http://deepskycolors.com/astro/2010/05/mb_2010-05-15_AroundRho.jpg]above image[/url] left is a geometrically angled reflection nebula [url=http://astrosurf.com/lorenzi/ccd/sh2-1_ccd.htm]cataloged[/url] as [url=http://galaxymap.org/cgi-bin/details.py?id=21426&t=hii&s=4_p31.0xp32.5&name=S1]Sharpless 1[/url]. Here, the bright star near the dust vortex creates the light of surrounding [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/reflection_nebula.html]reflection nebula[/url]. Although most of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rho_Ophiuchi_cloud_complex]these features[/url] are visible through a small telescope pointed toward the constellations of [url=http://seds.org/maps/stars_en/fig/ophiuchus.html]Ophiucus[/url], [url=http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/scorpius.html]Scorpius[/url], and [url=http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/sagittarius.html]Sagittarius[/url], the only way to see the intricate details of the dust swirls, as featured above, is to use a [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070613.html]long exposure[/url] camera.
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