The image captures one of the most spectacular areas of our sky: the colorful clouds of Rho Ophiuchi, a binary star system located about 400 light-years away from us, visible in the bluish reflection nebula. The many, splendid colors of the Rho Ophiuchi clouds highlight the complex processes that take place there. In general, the reddish hue comes from nebulae that shine with the light of ionized hydrogen, while the blue areas mark the presence of interstellar dust that reflects the light of young stars. The radiation of nearby blue stars ionizes the surrounding gas, making it bright. The densest dust reveals dark brown tones. Antares, a famous red supergiant surrounded by dust, creates a beautiful reflection nebula with an unusual yellowish color. On the right, a more distant star grouping is visible, the globular cluster M4, located at a distance of about 7,000 light-years from Earth. Location of shooting: Contrada Pisciotto - Sampieri (RG), Sicily (Italy); Equipment used: Nikon D750 (astro mod.) - Sigma 180mm macro lens - star tracker; 100 shots at ISO 1000 - f/3.5 - 25s; Processing with PixInsight and Photoshop

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