Explanation:
East of Antares, dark markings seem
to sprawl through the crowded star fields
toward the center of our Milky Way Galaxy.
Cataloged in the early 20th
century by astronomer
E. E. Barnard, the obscuring
interstellar dust clouds
include
B72,
B77, B78, and B59, seen in silhouette
against the starry background.
Here, their combined shape suggests smoke rising from
a pipe, and so the dark nebula's popular name is the Pipe Nebula.
This gorgeous
and expansive view was recorded in
very dark skies over
Hakos,
Namibia.
It covers a full 10 by 7 degree field in the
pronounceable
constellation Ophiuchus.
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