Stretching across 400 light-years, the vast emission nebula NGC 6188 glows in intricate filaments of hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen. Sculpted by fierce stellar winds and radiation from the nearby young cluster NGC 6193, its form evokes a dragon soaring through the stars, a fitting image for this rich star-forming region in the constellation Ara. Within its glowing arcs, new generations of massive stars ignite, continuing to reshape the surrounding interstellar medium.

Below this sprawling cloud lies an unexpected jewel: the planetary nebula NGC 6164/6165, a symmetrical bubble of gas expelled by the massive O-type star HD 148937. Together, these neighboring objects create a striking juxtaposition, a stellar nursery giving birth to new suns above a dying star shedding its outer layers below, a vivid portrait of the cosmic cycle of stellar evolution.

This image is a two-panel mosaic, carefully captured and processed to reveal both the luminous H II structures of NGC 6188 and the delicate shell of NGC 6164/6165 in remarkable detail.

Image Description and Details : Takahashi TOA-150, FLI ML16200, Astro-Physics AP1600 with Encoders
Frames: Red: 24x900", Green: 14x900", Blue: 19x900", Lum: 24x900", Integration: 20h 15'.

Dark shapes with bright edges winging their way through dusty NGC 6188 are tens of light-years long. The emission nebula is found near the edge of an otherwise dark large molecular cloud in the southern constellation Ara, about 4,000 light-years away.

Copyright: Deep Sky West Remote Observatory / Ruben Barbosa