Scorpius Enhanced

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 , a dark sky , and some sophisticated image processing . The resulting digitally-enhanced image shows many breathtaking features . Diagonal across the image right is part of the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy . Visible there are vast clouds of bright stars and long filaments of dark and intricate dust . Rising vertically on the image left are dark dust bands known as the Dark River . Several of the bright stars on the left are part of Scorpius' head and claws , and include the bright star Antares . Numerous red emission nebulas , blue reflection nebulas , and dark filaments became visible as the deep 17-hour expo image developed. Scorpius appears prominently in southern skies after sunset during the middle of the year.