Stars and Dust Across Corona Australis . ... Probably less than 500 light-years away and effectively blocking light from more distant, background stars in the Milky Way , the densest part of the dust cloud is about 8 light-years long. ... The smaller yellowish nebula (NGC 6729) surrounds young variable star R Coronae Australis . ... While NGC 6723 appears to be part of the group, it actually lies nearly 30,000 light-years away, far beyond the Corona Australis dust clouds. ...