Explanation: This composition in stardust covers almost 2 degrees on the sky, close to the border of the zodiacal constellation Aries and the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. At the lower right of the gorgeous skyscape is a dusty blue reflection nebula surrounding a bright star cataloged as van den Bergh 13 (vdB 13), about 1,000 light-years away. At that estimated distance, the cosmic canvas is over 30 light-years across. Also surrounded by scattered blue starlight, vdB 16 lies toward the upper left, while dark dusty nebulae sprawl across the scene. Near the edge of a large molecular cloud, they can hide newly formed stars and young stellar objects or protostars.

Skywatcher 80ED f6
Tot. Exp: L 13.21 hours.
RGB: R 4,28 hours; G (R/B); B: 3,28 hours.
CCD: SBIG ST8300 (cooled -5° C. full res.)
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G