Streaming Dark Nebulas near B44
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.