The Dragons Of Ara

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Behold: dark shapes winging their way through the dusty emission nebula  known as NGC 6188 in the southern Constellation of Ara, 4000 light years away. To wit:

Born in that region only a few million years ago, the massive young stars of the embedded Ara OB1 association sculpt the fantastic shapes and power the nebular glow with stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation. The recent star formation itself was likely triggered by winds and supernova explosions, from previous generations of massive stars, that swept up and compressed the molecular gas. The featured image accumulated over 10 hours through a backyard telescope in Córdoba, Argentina and was false-coloured using the Hubble palette highlighting emission from sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms in red, green, and blue hues. The field of view spans about four full Moons, corresponding to about 150 light years at the estimated distance of NGC 6188.

(Image: Ariel L. Cappelletti)

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2 thoughts on “The Dragons Of Ara

  1. Matt Pilates

    Boring. Hurry up with Hot Wheels.

    I’ve been barred from several pubs in Dun Laoghaire over the weekend and can’t share those motoring experiences with the local Top Gear brigade anymore.

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