The dark nebula predominant at the lower left of the above photograph is known as the Pipe Nebula [ http://www.astropix…]. The dark clouds, suggestively shaped like smoke rising from a pipe, are caused by absorption of background starlight by dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. These dust clouds can be traced all the way to the Rho Ophiuchi nebular clouds [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] on the right. The brightest star in the field is Antares [ http://www.astro.wi…]. Many types of nebula are highlighted here: the red are emission nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], the blue are reflection nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], and the dark are absorption nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. This picture has been digitally enhanced [ http://www.astropix…].
