The Corona Australis star-forming region is a dark cloud south of Sagittarius where a young cluster, the Coronet, lights small blue reflection nebulae.
At a glance
| type | nebula |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 489 light-years (150 pc) |
| its light left it | 489 years ago |
| size in the piece | about 39 light-years acrossmodel |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with. Model marks a property of the piece’s galaxy model rather than a measurement.
About Corona Australis
Below the Milky Way’s brightest stretch lies a long, dense dark cloud in the small constellation Corona Australis. At its head is the Coronet, a cluster of very young stars embedded in the dust, among them the variable star R Coronae Australis.
The young stars light up a group of reflection nebulae, among them NGC 6726, NGC 6727 and NGC 6729, blue haze where starlight scatters off dust grains, and their jets drive small knots of shocked gas. Infrared and X-ray observations reveal the members still hidden inside the cloud. The piece also carries a separate entry, the Corona Australis Cloud, for the dark cloud around it.
What you see in the piece
In visible light, look for the dark cloud against the star fields near Sagittarius; infrared shows the dust and the buried cluster.
Questions
How far away is the Corona Australis star-forming region?
It is about 489 light-years (150 pc) from the Sun.
What is the Coronet cluster?
A cluster of very young stars embedded in the Corona Australis dark cloud, around the variable star R Coronae Australis.