A Mosaic of the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex

A mosaic of the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex in the constellation Ophiuchus (top right frame) and the Blue Horsehead Nebula, IC 4592 (lower left frame).

This mosaic is of molecular clouds and HII Gas Regions in the Sagittarius arm of our Milky Way Galaxy.

The blue and yellow clouds are reflection nebulae. These clouds get their colors from neighboring stars reflecting light off the dust in the clouds.

The red clouds are gas clouds of hydrogen gas. Radiation from hot neighboring stars excite the gas and cause it to glow red. These gas clouds are referred to as HII Regions or Hydrogen II Regions.

Image processed by Andrew Macica, original data from Telescope Live. Instruction on PixInsight from Adam Block Studios.

Imaging Details:

Observatory: Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile

Telescope: Nikon 200

Aperture: 100 mm (3.94 inches), f/2.0

Focal Length: 200 mm

Camera: FLI ML 16200 CCD

Filters: LRGB, Ha

Total Exposure: 9 hours 20 min.

Image Processing: PixInsight 1.8.9-3 Ripley (x64);

BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, StarXTerminator (RC Astro);

Adobe Photoshop 25.12.1.

Adobe Lightroom Classic 14.2

Instruction on PixInsight from Adam Block Studios.