                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2026 July 7
   The featured image shows the nebulae NGC 6188 and NGC 6164. The former
   is a star forming region near the image center filled with glowing gas
     and laced with dust that resembles dragons. The smaller NGC 6164 is
      seen on the lower right is an emission nebula created by a single
       massive star in its center. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                          NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Rod Prazeres

   Explanation: Where can you find dragons fighting in the night sky? In
   the southern constellation of the Altar: Ara. The dragons are, of
   course, actually made of suggestively shaped gas and dust. The
   celestial home of the mythological battling beasts is cataloged as NGC
   6188 and located about 4,000 light years away near the edge of a large
   molecular cloud. Massive, young stars of the embedded Ara OB1
   association were formed there only a few million years ago, sculpting
   the dark shapes and powering the nebular glow with stellar winds and
   intense ultraviolet radiation. Joining NGC 6188 on this cosmic canvas,
   visible toward the lower right, is unusual emission nebula NGC 6164,
   also created by one of the region's massive stars. This impressively
   wide field picture, captured from Queensland, Australia, spans over 2
   degrees (four full Moons).

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

