A fascinating and complex region of the southern sky! At 430 light years distance, the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud is one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth. Its lanes and filaments sprawl across several degrees and are illuminated by several embedded reflection nebulae.
The darkest portion (centred in this image) lying between Epsilon and Gamma Coronae Australis is known as Bernes 157. The blue/white reflection nebulae (NGC6726/6727, NGC6729 and IC4812) are illuminated by very young stars. The magnitudes of these stars vary considerably, leading to significant variations in the brightness and apparent shape of their associated nebulae. Collectively these reflection nebulae are also known as Caldwell 68.
To round out the picture, the globular cluster NGC6723 can be seen at the northern end of the complex. NGC6723 is located at a distance of about 28,000 light years and has no physical association with the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud. A similar chance alignment pairs
Caldwell 108 and the Dark Doodad nebula.
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