|   | 
Credit & Copyright: Thomas V. Davis    
(tvdavisastropix.com)   
  
Explanation:
Dark dust lit by the bright yellow star Antares highlight this photogenic starscape  
of the southern sky.  
  
A wider angle image shows the  
central band of our  
Milky Way Galaxy connected  
to  
Antares by streams of  
dust knows as the  
Dark River.    
  
At the head of the Dark River the  
dust appears in dense knots.    
  
One of the densest knots is  
B44, pictured near the bottom of the above image.  
  
Off to the left of the  
above  
image lies Antares, a star so bright that the  
pictured dust reflects its light, giving it a distinct yellow hue.    
  
Light from the blue star  
on the image left creates a surrounding blue  
reflection nebula  
named IC  
4605.    
  
B44 and IC 4605 lies about 500 light years distant toward the  
constellation of the  
Scorpion.  
  
   
  
  
  
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: reflection nebula - dust
Publications with words: reflection nebula - dust
See also:
