Imaged in a 10 panel mosaic the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud complex is a visual smorgasbord of color and texture.
Located 460 light years away, the complex consists of an incredible range of reflection and dark nebulae.
There are two primary regions of dense gas and dust. The star forming clouds L1688 and L1689. Both have filaments that extend out and are often termed dark river clouds. The temperatures in this region are very high with material estimated at 3000 times the mass of our sun. Within L1688 425 infrared sources have been detected and are thought to be young stellar objects including 16 protostars and 123 T Tauri Stars (a class of variable star less than 10 million years old. In cosmic terms these stars are very young.
The yellow region glows brightly lit by Antares. The blue regions on the left consist of the reflection nebulae IC4603 and IC4604.
Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave Delta Rho 350 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Full resolution is here
Image Processing: Mike Selby