To my eye, this is one of the most beautiful patches of the night sky. CLICK on IMAGE above to view full-screen
A Stellar Nursery Next Door
At about 460 light-years away, Rho Ophiuchi is one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth — practically in our backyard, cosmically speaking. It’s dense with young stars still wrapped in the gas and dust they formed from, some barely a hundred thousand years old. A few of the youngest already have their own circumstellar disks — the raw material for future planets — which is part of why this region turns up in professional astronomy too.
While the day began cool and overcast, it warmed up to be a wonderful day last Saturday to head out, meet some friends and their kids (and shhh – dogs) at the festival. The parade was, as always, the highlight. And Sam had a great time on the kiddie slide. Check out the photo gallery here.
