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Rho Ophiuchi + IC 4592
Rho Ophiuchi + IC 4592
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello
The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is a dark nebula of gas and dust that is located 1° south of the star ρ Ophiuchi. At an estimated distance of 131 ± 3 parsecs, this cloud is one of the closest star-forming regions to the Solar System.
IC 4592 (called the Blue Horsehead Nebula) is a reflection nebula in the Scorpius constellation.
Reflection nebulas are actually made up of very fine dust that normally appears dark but can look quite blue when reflecting the light of energetic nearby stars. In this case, the source of much of the reflected light is a star at the eye of the horse.
That star is part of Nu Scorpii, one of the brighter star systems toward the Scorpius. A second reflection nebula dubbed IC 4601 is visible surrounding two stars at the image center.
Its distance is about 400 light-years.
The blue area at the bottom is part of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.
Rho Ophiuchi + IC 4592
Rho Ophiuchi + IC 4592
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello
The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is a dark nebula of gas and dust that is located 1° south of the star ρ Ophiuchi. At an estimated distance of 131 ± 3 parsecs, this cloud is one of the closest star-forming regions to the Solar System.
IC 4592 (called the Blue Horsehead Nebula) is a reflection nebula in the Scorpius constellation.
Reflection nebulas are actually made up of very fine dust that normally appears dark but can look quite blue when reflecting the light of energetic nearby stars. In this case, the source of much of the reflected light is a star at the eye of the horse.
That star is part of Nu Scorpii, one of the brighter star systems toward the Scorpius. A second reflection nebula dubbed IC 4601 is visible surrounding two stars at the image center.
Its distance is about 400 light-years.
The blue area at the bottom is part of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.