A Scorpius Sky Spectacular

Explanation: If Scorpius looked this good to the unaided eye, humans might remember it better. Scorpius more typically appears as a few bright stars in a well-known but rarely pointed out zodiacal constellation . To get a spectacular image like this , though, one needs a good camera , color filters , and a digital image processor . To bring out detail, the featured image not only involved long duration exposures taken in several colors, but one exposure in a very specific red color emitted by hydrogen . The resulting image shows many breathtaking features. Vertically across the image left is part of the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy . Visible there are vast clouds of bright stars and long filaments of dark dust . Jutting out diagonally from the Milky Way in the image center are dark dust bands known as the Dark River . This river connects to several bright stars on the right that are part of Scorpius' head and claws , and include the bright star Antares . Above and right of Antares is an even brighter planet: Jupiter. Numerous red emission nebulas and blue reflection nebulas are visible throughout the image. Scorpius appears prominently in southern skies after sunset during the middle of the year.