Snake Nebula

Snake Nebula
Dark nebula
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension 17h 23m 30s
Declination −23° 38
Distance 650 ly   (200 pc)
Apparent magnitude (V)
Apparent dimensions (V) 37 × 17 arcmins
Constellation Ophiuchus
Physical characteristics
Radius N/A ly
Absolute magnitude (V)
Notable features
Designations Barnard 72

The Snake Nebula (also known as Barnard 72) is a dark nebula in the Ophiuchus constellation. It is a small but readily apparent S-shaped dust lane that snakes out in front of the Milky Way star clouds from the north-north-west edge of the bowl of the Pipe Nebula. Its thickness runs between 2 and 3 and runs around 6 in the north-west / south-east orientation. A good view in a 4" to 6" telescope requires clear dark skies.

It is part of the much larger Dark Horse Nebula.

To the right side of the Snake Nebula is found Barnard 68. Below it are found Barnard 69, Barnard 70, and Barnard 74.

Coordinates: 17h 23m 30s, −23° 38′ 00″

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/15/2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.