Fighting Dragons of Ara by Richard Leighton

NGC 6188 "The Fighting dragons of Ara"

Born from the light and matter of massive young stars, winged serpents take shape.

NGC 6188 "The Fighting Dragons" and NGC 6164 "The Dragons Egg" are located about 4,000 light years away in the constellation Ara. This image spans about 70 light years.

An active star-forming region, new-born stellar giants carve out these incredible shapes seen in the dark cosmic dust, causing surrounding gas to glow by blasting it with streams of charged particles known as stellar winds.

The phenomenon to see shapes in things "pareidolia" is fascinating - and this example no less so. Resolving this narrowband tri-colour image, and seeing these fiery serpents take shape was extremely satisfying.

Stars can be a distraction, so to submerse the viewer into this surreal landscape, a technique was used to remove the stars.