The Dark Tower in Scorpius
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Mike Selby
In silhouette against a crowded star field
along the tail of the arachnological constellation
Scorpius,
this dusty cosmic cloud evokes for some the image of an
ominous
dark tower.
In fact, monstrous clumps of dust and molecular gas
collapsing
to form stars may well lurk within the dark nebula,
a structure that spans almost 40 light-years across this
gorgeous telescopic portrait.
A
cometary globule, the swept-back cloud
is shaped by intense ultraviolet radiation from the
OB association
of very
hot stars in NGC 6231,
off the upper right corner of the scene.
That energetic ultraviolet light also powers the globule's bordering
reddish glow of hydrogen gas.
Hot stars embedded in the dust can be seen as bluish
reflection nebulae.
This dark tower and
associated nebulae are about 5,000 light-years away.