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The Pipe Nebula (also known as Barnard 59, 65–67, and 78) is a dark 
File:Guisard - Milky Way.jpg, The Milky Way between Sagittarius (constellation), Sagittarius and Scorpius: the Pipe Nebula is visible slightly above and left of center.
File:Laser Towards Milky Ways Centre.jpg, View of the Milky Way and the Great Rift from ESO's Very Large Telescope in Cerro Paranal, Chile. The laser beam points almost directly toward the Pipe Nebula.
File:A Cosmic Pretzel BHB2007 11.tif, Two baby stars within the interstellar dust of the Pipe nebula.
File:Barnard 59, part of a vast dark cloud.jpg, Barnard 59 captured by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory.
nebula
A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in ...
in the Ophiuchus constellation
Ophiuchus () is a large constellation straddling the celestial equator. Its name comes from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "serpent-bearer", and it is commonly represented as a man grasping a snake. The serpent is represented by the constellati ...
and a part of the Dark Horse Nebula. It is a large but readily apparent smoking pipe-shaped dust lane
A dust lane consists of relatively dense, obscuring clouds of interstellar dust, observed as a dark swath against the background of brighter object(s), especially a galaxy. These dust lanes can usually be seen in spiral galaxies, such as the M ...
that obscures the Milky Way star clouds behind it. Clearly visible to the naked eye in the Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...
under clear dark skies, but it is best viewed with 7× binoculars.
The nebula has two main parts: the Pipe Stem with an opacity of 6 which is composed of Barnard 59, Barnard 65, 65, Barnard 66, 66, and Barnard 67, 67 (also known as LDN 1773) 300′ x 60′ RA: 17h 21m Dec: −27° 23′; and the Bowl of the Pipe with an opacity of 5 which is composed of Barnard 78 (also known as LDN 42) 200′ x 140′ RA: 17h 33m Dec: −26° 30′.
Gallery
References
{{reflist Dark nebulae Barnard objects Ophiuchus