rho ophiuchi cloud complex

[moonshinegnomie]

the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex
24 hours of data using a telescope.live 10cm telescope in australia. shot with a monochrome camera using red,green and blue filters which were then combined for the final color image
I stacked and processed the images in pixinsight and photoshop

The Rho Ophiuchi complex is one of the closest star forming regions to earth. its about 400 light years away.
the bright star in the middle/upper left is antares. it is a red giant that is about 50-100,000 times as luminous as the sun. antares is one of the brightest stars in the summer sky.
also in the photo are 2 globular star clusters. M4 is below antares and is about 6000 light years away. it is estimated to be over 12 billion years old as globular clusters are among the oldest stars in the galaxy. Near the bottom right is another globular cluster M80. its about 36,000 light years away and is even older than M4,estimated to be 13 Billion years old

[Deuxcents]

1. The wonder of it all is in spectacular beauty. Ty for posting

[3catwoman3]

2. Are those the real colors coming from it?

Spectacular!

[moonshinegnomie]

3. yes they are

the blue is a reflection nebula. the light is reflected and scattered by dust in the area. simialr to what makes the sky blue. the deep red is from an emission nebula. an energetic star is causing hydrogen clouds to give off light. the wavelength of that light is deep red .
the orangish color of antares is because its a red giant star. its surface is much cooler than our sun but the star is so massive it give off much more total radiation than the sun. If if was in the same place as the sun it would extend out into the asteroid belt.

[lastlib]

4. Wow, that's really cool!

I f***ing LOVE stars!