The Pipe Nebula (also known as Barnard 59, 65–67, and 78) is a dark

nebula A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ 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 regio ...

in the Ophiuchus constellation 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 a relatively dense, obscuring clouds of interstellar dust, observed as a dark swath against the background of a brighter object(s), especially a galaxy. These dust lanes can usually be seen in spiral galaxies, such as th ...

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, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

under clear dark skies, but it is best viewed with 7×

binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...

. The nebula has two main parts: the Pipe Stem with an opacity of 6 which is composed of

Barnard 59 Barnard is a version of the surname Bernard, which is a French and West Germanic masculine given name and surname. The surname means as tough as a bear, Bar(Bear)+nard/hard(hardy/tough) __NOTOC__ People Some of the people bearing the surname Ba ...

, 65, 66, and 67 (also known as LDN 1773) 300′ x 60′ RA: 17^h 21^m Dec: −27° 23′; and the Bowl of the Pipe with an opacity of 5 which is composed of

Barnard 78 Barnard is a version of the surname Bernard, which is a French and West Germanic masculine given name and surname. The surname means as tough as a bear, Bar(Bear)+nard/hard(hardy/tough) __NOTOC__ People Some of the people bearing the surname Ba ...

(also known as LDN 42) 200′ x 140′ RA: 17^h 33^m Dec: −26° 30′. CentreMilkyWayMap

Gallery

File:Guisard - Milky Way.jpg, The Milky Way between Sagittarius and

Scorpius Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Gre ...

: 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 The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 member states for ground-based ast ...

Very Large Telescope The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2 m across, ...

Cerro Paranal Cerro Paranal is a mountain in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and is the home of the Paranal Observatory. Prior to the construction of the observatory, the summit was a horizontal control point with an elevation of ; now it is above sea ...

, 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.

References

{{reflist Dark nebulae Barnard objects Ophiuchus (constellation)