Image details: Scope AP 5” Refractor. Exposure: 90 minutes
The Snake Nebula (also known as Barnard 72) is a dark nebula in the Ophiuchus constellation (the Serpent Bearer). It is a small but readily apparent SP-shaped dust lane that snakes out in front of the Milky Way star clouds from the north-north-west. Its thickness runs between 2′ and 3′ and runs around 6′ in the north-west / south-east orientation. It is about 5 light-years across, located some 650 light-years away from Earth.
