"Dreamtime Billabong"
Short Listed in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition 2010 (Greenwich Observatory)

Being somwhat reminiscent of Aboriginal Art I named this crop of http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/116319109/large "Dreamtime Billabong" because of rich star field, curved & meandering lines and blue hues.

This region lies in the constellation of Sagittarius around 5,800 light years away. This series of objects is embedded within the rich star fields of Sagittarius and contains dark, emission (red / pink) and reflection (blue) nebulae. There at least 7 catalogued objects in the frame - IC 1274, IC 4685 (the large reddish nebula below center), NGC 6559, GN 18.06.6.01, Barnard 303, Barnard 91 and IC 1275. The two brightest reflection nebulae are NGC 6559 (to the bottom - south) and IC 1274 (to the top - north).