IC 4628 The Prawn Nebula in Sco

IC 4628 is a spectacular and bright emission nebula in sourthern skies. It is located in the tail of Scorpius (16hr 57min, -40deg 20 min) not too far away from Antares. It is also known as the Prawn Nebula, or Gum 56. It is 6,000 light years distant and about 250 light years across. The two bright emission regions appear to be teathered by a connecting dark dust lane.

Data from 5 nm Astrodon H-a nad SII filters and a 3 nm OIII filter were color mapped to green, red and blue, respectively (Hubble color palette). RGB data from Astrodon Generation 2 filters were blended in for star colors. The field is ~ 40′ wide. North is toward the lower right.