The triple star in the upper left part of this image is Rho Ophiuchus. It is about 400
light years from earth, and at the heart of a vast star-forming region.
The light from Rho Ophiuchus is reflected by the gas and dust around it and appears
blue, as does the reflection nebula in the center-right of this image. The brilliant star just on
the right edge is the red super-giant Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius.
Antares is 700 times the diameter of our sun, and its light reflecting off the clouds of gas and
dust around it creates the very rare orange nebula that takes up much of this image.
Antares is about 600 light years from earth. Above and to the left of Antares is a tiny clump
of stars. This is the globular cluster NGC 6144, much farther away from us (28,000 light years).
Near the top of this image is the edge of an area of red emission nebula, as stellar radiation there
causes hydrogen gas to glow. The dark bands in the image are areas of darker, dense gas
and dust which block the light of stars behind them.

Image data:
Camera: Canon 350 XT (modified)
Exposure: ISO 800, 5 minutes x 43
Telescope: William Optics ZS 66mm, 0.8x focal reducer / field flattener