VdB 107 - reflection nebula around Antares

Antares (α Sco, α Scorpii, Alpha Scorpii, or sometimes called Calbalacrab) is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius. With an apparent magnitude 1.07 it is the sixteenth brightest star in the entire sky. Antares is a red supergiant star located about 600 light years from the Solar System. Having a radius about 850 times that of the Sun, it is one of the largest known stars. It is located in a region of the Milky Way, rich in gas clouds. In particular Antares illuminates the portion south of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud, a giant molecular cloud which lies between the constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus. The portion of the cloud illuminated by Antares, assuming its reddish color is called Antares Nebula (or Cloud Nebula) and is catalogued as VDB 107, Ced 132, DG 141, LBN 1107 and Magakian 668. A larger field image can be found here .

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