Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Corona Australis (CrA)  ·  Contains:  IC 4812  ·  NGC 6723  ·  NGC 6726  ·  NGC 6727  ·  NGC 6729  ·  Part of the constellation Corona Austrina (CrA)  ·  The star γ CrA  ·  The star ε CrA
Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and Region, Brian Diettrich
Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and Region
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Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and Region

Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and Region, Brian Diettrich
Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and Region
Powered byPixInsight

Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and Region

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Description

The Corona Australis Molecular Cloud (CAMC) is a fascinating and complex region for study and photography. The field of view includes Dark Nebula Bernes 157,  reflection nebula NGC 6726 / 6727 and IC 4812, and reflection/emission nebula NGC 6729 (also known as Caldwell 68). Also in the field of view is the globular cluster NGC 6723, just over the border in Sagittarius. The dark nebula in Corona Australis was discovered by James Dunlop in Australia in 1826; he referred to it as, "a singular dark space in the heavens, of an irregular figure".  Describing DN Be 157 visually, Kepple and Sanner call it "a large curved starless area, its outline shaped rather like a cashew nut concave to the SW" (2020:108). O'Meara designated it as Southern Gem 111 and described its view as "a smoggy gaze of subtle grays that unite to form an inverted teardrop" and later a "misty brew of black shapes" (2013:406).  Kanipe and Webb comment about the region: "the dark, sooty region west of the bright portion of NGC 6729 marks the densest cloud core in the region, with extinction up to an astonishing 45 magnitudes" (2018:287).  Imaged in New Zealand in early October, the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud is high overhead in the SE edge of the Milky Way at dark, before gradually sliding southwest across the night.

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Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and Region, Brian Diettrich