NGC 6188 The Fighting Dragons of Ara

NGC 6188 is a marvellous wonder to observe in the southern sky. It is an emission nebula in the constellation Ara, about 4,000 lightyears away from us. Observed in digital forms, it looks like two dragon claws locked in a deadly fight.

The main culprit behind this scene is NGC 6193 (also known as Caldwell 82), an open cluster containing 27 stars on the right of the upper dragon claw. The stars emit an incredible amount of energy that energises the whole nebula (they are so energetic that unaided eyes can see them in a dark site). The interstellar winds from those stars wash over the surrounding dust clouds and create a series of dark streaks that make the dragon's claws.

Another object to look at is NGC 6165, an unusual planetary nebula in the bottom left corner. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it has a rare oxygen shroud with great symmetrical beauty.

(The original data was acquired from iTelescope, which I processed using pixinsight and photoshop).

Recognition

This image was selected as “Picture of the Day” by Astronomy.com