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Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex – Spring 2026
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Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex – Spring 2026

📷 Keith Mombourquette 🌌 RhoOphiuchi Star Cluster 📍 Starfront Observatories, Brady TX June 9, 2026
♥ 2 Likes

About This Image

Rho Ophiuchi is too low in the Southern Sky for us to be able to image it from the Grey Bruce area. However, I was able to image it in the spring of 2026, using my telescope located in the Starfront Observatory located under Bortle 1 skies in Brady TX. The Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex is one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth, located about 390–460 light-years away near the bright star Antares in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is a rich cloud of gas and dust where young stars are actively forming. Its striking colours come from a mix of blue reflection nebulae, reddish glowing hydrogen gas, and dark dust lanes that block the background stars of the Milky Way. For astrophotographers, Rho Ophiuchi is a favourite wide-field target because it combines reflection, emission, and dark nebulae in one dramatic region of the sky.

📅 Acquisition Sessions

Date Filter Frames Sec/Frame Sub-total Bortle
1 0s 0m
26h 48m
Integration
1
Sessions
2
Likes
129
Views

🔭 Equipment

Telescope / Lens Askar FRA300
Camera ZWO Asi2600mm Pro
Mount ZWO AM5
Filters Antlia Edge 4.5 and LRGB
Accessories ZWO EAF; ZWO EFW; ZWO CAA; ZWP OAG-L; ZWO ASI 174mm Guide Camera, Pegasus Power Box
Software Pixinsight

👤 Astro Imager

Member Keith Mombourquette
Posted Jun 9, 2026

💬 Comments (1)

Adam Hofmann Jun 9, 2026

It is hard to believe how beautiful our universe is. I have not send a nicer image of this region!

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