The well-known and beloved area of Rho Ophiuchi with its complex of emission and reflection nebulae.
A famous "Irishman" (kind of a polish inside joke about this object) who ventured all the way to Namibia showed what incredible colors adorn the sky region surrounding the bright double star Rho Ophiuchus. In my subjective opinion, this is perhaps the most colorful and photogenic nebulous region visible from Earth. The blue reflection nebula surrounding Rho Ophiuchus is the visible counterpart of a much larger but invisible molecular cloud that permeates this area and is known as the Ophiuchus cloud. This area is further distinguished by the bright star Antares, a red supergiant, illuminating the dust cloud in yellow. The whole scene is complemented by hydrogen from the emission nebulae Sh 2-1 and Sh 2-9, creating a well-known and cherished image.
The central core of this massive molecular cloud can be seen as a dense dark nebula where hardly any stars are visible. However, if we were to observe in infrared, we could peek into the depths of the dust and directly observe the process of star formation. This reflection sparked an idea for another session, but that will have to wait until next time in Hakos
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