NGC 6188

High-Res

Object: NGC 6188

Hiding in the inconspicuous constellation of Ara the Altar lurks NGC 6188, a complex and hauntingly beautiful emission nebula. In size this object spans well over 100 light-years across, with its tortured and convoluted terrain sculpted by stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation from young, massive stars in the surrounding Ara OB1 association. Dark towers of interstellar dust highlighted against a backdrop of ionized gas create a scalloped effect hinting at a three dimensional perspective. Informally known as the Great Wall of Ara, NGC 6188 is truly one of many fine examples of deep sky wonders in the southern skies.

Near the bottom right of the frame is NGC 6164, and emission nebula just across the constellation border in Norma. Spanning about 4 light-years across and resembling a bipolar planetary nebula, this object was instead formed by a different process than the typical planetary. The bright O-type star visible in the center of NGC 6164 is responsible for the shape, streaming great quantities of gas outward from its surface at a prodigious rate to create the cocoon seen here. Unlike a typical solar mass star that forms a planetary nebulae and morph into a white dwarf, the star at the center of NGC 6164 will end its life in a spectacular supernova event in three to four million years.