Dark Nebulae B78, B72 (Snake Nebula) and B74

Click on image for larger version.

Perhaps this is from whence jealous Hera snatched one of the snakes she sent to dispatch baby Hercules in his crib? The picture here shows obscuring clouds of dust towards the center of our galaxy. The top of the frame begins with B78 at the end of the much larger "pipe" nebula. The snake-like B72 slithers near the center of the image. To its lower left B74 is a very opaque cloud of dust that completely hides the stars beyond.

Equipment

76mm Televue (480mm f/6.3 with 0.8x Feild Corrector)
SBIG ST10XME CCD camera with color filter wheel

R G B color production was used to create this image.

Luminance = synthetic
Red = 20 minutes binned 1x1
 Green = 20 minutes binned 1x1
 Blue = 20 minutes binned 1x1

Minimum credit line: Tom McQuillan/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

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Updated: 04/17/2005