Cosmic dust clouds and young,
energetic stars inhabit this telescopic vista,
less than 500 light-years away toward the northern boundary of Corona Australis, the
Southern Crown. The dust clouds effectively block light from
more distant background stars in the Milky Way. But
the striking complex of reflection nebulae cataloged as NGC 6726, 6727, and
IC 4812 produce a characteristic blue color as light
from the region’s young hot stars is reflected by the
cosmic dust. The dust also obscures from
view stars still in the process of
formation. At the left, smaller yellowish nebula NGC 6729 bends around young
variable star R Coronae Australis.
Just below it, glowing arcs and loops shocked by outflows from embedded newborn
stars are identified as Herbig-Haro objects. On
the sky this field of view spans about 1 degree. That corresponds to almost 9 light-years at
the estimated distance of the nearby star forming region.
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