APOD: Colorful Clouds Near Rho Ophiuchi (2015 Jul 06)

[APOD Robot]

Colorful Clouds Near Rho Ophiuchi

Explanation: Why is the sky near Antares and Rho Ophiuchi so colorful? The colors result from a mixture of objects and processes. Fine dust illuminated from the front by starlight produces blue reflection nebulae. Gaseous clouds whose atoms are excited by ultraviolet starlight produce reddish emission nebulae. Backlit dust clouds block starlight and so appear dark. Antares, a red supergiant and one of the brighter stars in the night sky, lights up the yellow-red clouds on the lower center of the featured image. Rho Ophiuchi lies at the center of the blue nebula on the left. The distant globular cluster M4 is visible to the upper right of center. These star clouds are even more colorful than humans can see, emitting light across the electromagnetic spectrum.

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[Ann]

I love this image. Markus Noller has managed to give a whole new look to this much-photographed part of the sky. To me, the Rho Ophiouchi and Antares region looks like a magnificent, multicolored, if misshapen and slightly monstrous cosmic flower. The various colorful clouds are the petals, the dark, dark dust lanes apparently supporting the Rho Ophiuchi fat blue petal are the sepals, and the sickly-green column reaching down from the orange-colored cloud is the stem. And globular cluster M4 may be the flower's magnificent pistil!

What a fine picture!

Ann

[starsurfer]

This reminds me of old film pictures. Also don't forget NGC 6144, a second globular cluster above and to the left of Antares. There is in fact a third globular cluster, M80 to the north of Rho Ophiuchi. Adam Block has released a lovely image of the reflection nebula IC 4605, to the left of Antares.

[Boomer12k]

Really good and clear....AWESOME!!!!

:---[===] *

[mannyp]

Thanks for the beautiful image today.

Looks like the featured image link is broken. It should be http://www.deep-sky-images.de/displayim ... 29&pid=964

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

Today's image is a pleasure on the iris.

Purple Iris.jpg (8.43 KiB) Viewed 2406 times

And, if possible, even more colorful!!

[etalon]

Hi at all,

thank you for your kind words. I´m glad, that you will enjoy my picture.

Because the APOD is a earlier version, you will find a reworked, more colorful version in higher resolution on my hp:

http://www.deep-sky-images.de/displayim ... play_media

Thanks at all for looking!

Cheers,
Markus

[Guest]

Beautiful image! One bit of feedback for APOD: it would be nice (not just for today's image, but more generally) if clicking the image brought one to a high-res version of the image. I like to download and collect APOD images, for use as desktop images, but I often have to track down the high-res version myself from the photographer's website. Thanks!

Cheers,
-B.

[Chris Peterson]

Beautiful image! One bit of feedback for APOD: it would be nice (not just for today's image, but more generally) if clicking the image brought one to a high-res version of the image. I like to download and collect APOD images, for use as desktop images, but I often have to track down the high-res version myself from the photographer's website. Thanks!

Almost always, clicking on the main page image does take you to a higher resolution image. It may not always be the highest resolution image available, but that's just good page design. Under normal circumstances, simply clicking an image shouldn't result in receiving a very large file.

[BillBixby]

Beautiful image! One bit of feedback for APOD: it would be nice (not just for today's image, but more generally) if clicking the image brought one to a high-res version of the image. I like to download and collect APOD images, for use as desktop images, but I often have to track down the high-res version myself from the photographer's website. Thanks!

Almost always, clicking on the main page image does take you to a higher resolution image. It may not always be the highest resolution image available, but that's just good page design. Under normal circumstances, simply clicking an image shouldn't result in receiving a very large file.

My Modus Operandi is similar to what Chris wrote above. In one tab I open the APOD. Then Right Click the mouse on the picture and open that in a second tab. Third, I Right Click on the "Discuss" link and open that in a third tab.

Now I have three tabs of APOD and go back to the first tab and read the information given, and have the picture in the second tab to refer to as needed. Also, the cursor on the second (the picture) tab is a +/- which changes the picture to high resolution or back to full picture.

After reading the information for the APOD picture and viewing the picture I proceed to the discussion tab and read the comments made about the picture and information provided. Often the discussion involves things I did not see, notice, or that brings up other points and I drop back to the first or second tab for clarification.

[geckzilla]

My Modus Operandi is similar to what Chris wrote above. In one tab I open the APOD. Then Right Click the mouse on the picture and open that in a second tab. Third, I Right Click on the "Discuss" link and open that in a third tab.

Pro tip: If you press your scroll wheel / middle mouse button on a link, it opens it in a new tab without having to right click and go from the context menu.

[BillBixby]

My Modus Operandi is similar to what Chris wrote above. In one tab I open the APOD. Then Right Click the mouse on the picture and open that in a second tab. Third, I Right Click on the "Discuss" link and open that in a third tab.

Pro tip: If you press your scroll wheel / middle mouse button on a link, it opens it in a new tab without having to right click and go from the context menu.

I had no idea. Thank you.

[Sum Buddy]

Pro tip: If you press your scroll wheel / middle mouse button on a link, it opens it in a new tab without having to right click and go from the context menu.

Thanks Judy - what a great trick. The things I learn at APOD astound, amaze and gratify me to no end. You guys rock!