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Credit & Copyright: Ariel L. Cappelletti   
 
Explanation:
Dark shapes with bright edges winging their way through dusty  
NGC 6188 are tens of light-years long.  
  
The emission nebula is found near the edge of an  
otherwise dark and large molecular cloud in the southern  
constellation  
Ara, about 4,000 light-years away.  
  
Born in  
that region only a few million years ago, the massive young  
stars of the embedded Ara  
OB1 association  
sculpt the fantastic shapes and power the nebular glow with  
stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation.  
  
The recent star formation itself was likely triggered by  
winds and supernova explosions, from previous generations of massive  
stars, that swept up and compressed the molecular gas.  
  
The   
featured image accumulated over 10 hours through a backyard telescope   
in Cö¨rdoba,   
Argentina   
and was false-colored using the   
Hubble palette highlighting emission from  
sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms  
in red, green, and blue hues.  
  
The field of view spans about four full Moons, corresponding to about 150 light  
years at the estimated distance  
of NGC 6188.  
  
  
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
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: emission nebula - molecular cloud - OB association
Publications with words: emission nebula - molecular cloud - OB association
See also:
- APOD: 2025 September 19 Á The NGC 6914 Complex
- APOD: 2025 September 10 Á The Great Lacerta Nebula
- APOD: 2025 August 1 Á Small Dark Nebula
- APOD: 2025 July 21 Á Cats Paw Nebula from Webb Space Telescope
- APOD: 2025 July 16 Á The Rosette Nebula from DECam
- APOD: 2025 July 10 Á Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
- APOD: 2025 July 5 Á Ou4: The Giant Squid Nebula
