Barnard 72 - The Snake Nebula

Located in Ophiuchus in a field strewn with countless distant stars the Snake Nebula (number 72 in E. E. Barnard's catalogue of dark nebulae) provides a dramatic centre-point in this photograph. The Snake and the the other dark nebulae in the field are regions of dense dust and gas that prevent the light of distant stars from getting through. Other Barnard objects in the field are B68, the dense crescent-shaped nebula above right of the Snake whilst, running clockwise, are B69 and B70. They are just a few of the numerous dust and gas clouds found in Ophiuchus/Sagittarius and along the entire Galactic plane of our Galaxy. The bright blue star bottom right is q Ophiuchi; the field spans about 20ly at the distance to B72 of 650ly.