This is the high latitude molecular cloud MBM 159, which is located at a distance of about 220 pc and may form part of the Aquila rift. Apo TEC140 (140/f7.2) - FLI Proline 16803 - L (450m) R (90m) G (90m) B (150m) - Warrumbungle Observatory, Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia
Young star cluster M16 is surrounded by natal clouds of cosmic dust and glowing gas also known as The Eagle Nebula. This image of the region includes fantastic shapes made famous in well-known Hubble Space Telescope close-ups of the starforming complex. Described as elephant trunks or Pillars of Creation, dense, dusty columns rising near the center are light-years in length but are gravitationally contracting to form stars. Energetic radiation from the cluster stars erodes material near the tips, eventually exposing the embedded new stars. Extending from the upper left edge of the nebula is another dusty starforming column known as the Fairy of Eagle Nebula. M16 and the Eagle Nebula lie about 7,000 light-years away, an easy target for binoculars or small telescopes in a nebula rich part of the sky toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the snake) (text adapted from APOD). Apo TEC140 (140/f7.2) - FLI Proline 16803 - Ha (310m) OIII (590m) R (300m) G (240m) B (310m) - Warrumbungle Observatory, Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia
South of Antares, in the tail of the nebula-rich constellation Scorpius, lies emission nebula IC 4628. Nearby hot, massive stars, millions of years young, radiate the nebula with invisible ultraviolet light, stripping electrons from atoms. The electrons eventually recombine with the atoms to produce the visible nebular glow. At an estimated distance of 6,000 light-years, the region shown is about 250 light-years across. The nebula is also cataloged as Gum 56 for Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum, but seafood-loving astronomers might know this cosmic cloud as The Prawn Nebula (text adapted from APOD). Apo TEC140 (140/f7.2) - FLI Proline 16803 - Ha (315m) R (210m) G (160m) B (170m) - Warrumbungle Observatory, Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia
