Explanation:
Cosmic dust clouds sprawl across a rich field of stars in this
sweeping telescopic vista near the northern boundary of
Corona Australis, the Southern Crown.
Probably less than 500 light-years away and
effectively blocking light from
more distant, background stars in the
Milky Way,
the densest
part of the dust cloud is about 8 light-years long.
At its tip
(upper right) is a group of lovely reflection nebulae cataloged as
NGC 6726, 6727, 6729, and IC 4812.
A characteristic blue color is produced as light
from hot stars is reflected by
the cosmic dust.
The smaller yellowish nebula (NGC 6729) surrounds
young variable star
R
Coronae Australis.
Magnificent globular star cluster NGC 6723
is at the upper right corner of the view.
While NGC 6723 appears to be part of the group,
it actually lies nearly 30,000
light-years away,
far beyond the Corona Australis dust clouds.
Free Lecture:
An APOD editor
will review great space images tonight in Kalamazoo,
Michigan.
digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090605.html'; digg_skin = 'compact';
