Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex

The very colorful Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is a complex of interstellar clouds with different nebulae, particularly dark nebulae which it among others extends to the constellation Ophiuchus. At an estimated distance of about 460 light years, it is one of the closest star-forming regions to the Solar System.

Temperatures of the clouds range from 13–22 K (22 K is minus 420 farenheit), and there is a total of about 3,000 times the mass of the Sun in the material. Over half of the mass of the complex is concentrated around the L1688 cloud, and this is the most active star-forming region. There are embedded infrared sources within the complex. A total of 425 infrared sources have been detected near the L1688 cloud. These are presumed to be young stellar objects, including 16 classified as protostars, 123 T Tauri stars with dense circumstellar disks, and 77 weaker T Tauri stars with thinner disks. The last 2 categories of stars have estimated ages ranging from 100,000 to a million years.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Shots: (19 hours)

• Blue – 19, 600 seconds

• Green – 22, 600 seconds

• Red – 26, 600 seconds

• Luminescence – 48, 600 seconds

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