Fighting Dragons

These towering ridges of gas and dust are being carved by the fierce radiation and stellar winds pouring off the young, hot stars of the Ara OB1 association, born from the very cloud they’re now destroying. The sculpted pillars really do look like dragons rearing up against the light, and at around 4,000 light-years away, this is one of those targets that rewards a longer look. It sits deep in Ara, a constellation that barely clears the horizon for northern imagers, but from the Gold Coast it climbs nicely.

35 frames from the backyard under Bortle 6.9, not perfect skies, but this object is bright enough to fight back.