Snake Nebula (Barnard 72)

Dark Horse Nebula: Dark nebula in Ophiuchus with Pipe Nebula (LDN 1773), B 63, B 72 (Snake Nebula), B 268, B 270 and B 276; Carl Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 135 mm f/2.0 ZE at f/2.8; Canon EOS 6Da; 8x5 min 800 ASA; Namibia, Tivoli Southern Sky Guest Farm, 1360 m ASL; © 1. 9. 2016 Manuel Jung ^[45]

History

Edward. E. Barnard found on photographs he made that dark markings in the sky were not always caused by a void of stars but by a dark opaque nebulae. He published his catalogue of 182 such «Dark Markings in the Sky» in 1919 where these nebula were listed as numbers 68 through 77. For nebula 72 (Barnard 72, B 72) he noted: «This is a striking object. It is a thin, curved black marking, the exact form of the letter s or the figure 5, as the imagination or point of view may dictate. The southeast branch runs east for some distance passing close to the star C.D. -23°13370 (9.9 mag). Its average thickness is about 2' to 3'.» ^[239] The nebulae 255 and 261 were added later in his «Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way», published in 1927. ^[609]

Sometimes the Snake Nebula is also called the «Smoke of the Pipe Nebula» (Barnard 59, 65–67, and 78).

Physical Properties

Data from Simbad ^[145]
Name	Type	RA (J2000.0)	Dec (J2000.0)	Rvel [km/s]	z	Size [']	Identifiers
Barnard 68	DNe	17^h 22^m 38^s	-23° 49' 34"	3.51	0.000012		Barnard 68; LDN 57; [CB88] 82
Barnard 69	DNe	17^h 23^m 00^s	-23° 53' 00"			3 × 1	Barnard 69; LDN 55; [DB2002b] G1.46+6.96
Barnard 70	DNe	17^h 23^m 36^s	-23° 58' 00"			3 × 1	Barnard 70; LDN 54; [DB2002b] G1.45+6.81
Barnard 71	DNe	17^h 23^m 29^s	-24° 02' 30"				Barnard 71; LDN 53
Barnard 72	DNe	17^h 23^m 39^s	-23° 41' 42"				Barnard 72; LDN 66; NAME Snake DCld
Barnard 73	DNe	17^h 24^m 06^s	-24° 17' 00"			2 × 1.5	Barnard 73; [DB2002b] G1.33+6.53
Barnard 74	DNe	17^h 25^m 06^s	-24° 12' 00"				Barnard 74
Barnard 75	DNe	17^h 25^m 00^s	-21° 53' 00"			11 × 11	Barnard 75; LDN 112; [DB2002b] G3.43+7.64
Barnard 76	DNe	17^h 25^m 00^s	-24° 24' 00"				Barnard 76
Barnard 77	DNe	17^h 27^m 58^s	-23° 59' 58"				Barnard 77; IRAS 17249-2357; IRAS 17249-2401; LDN 69
Barnard 255	DNe	17^h 20^m 36^s	-23° 23' 00"			5 × 5	Barnard 255; LDN 59; [DB2002b] G1.57+7.69
Barnard 261	DNe	17^h 25^m 51^s	-23° 00' 57"				Barnard 261; IRAS 17228-2258; LDN 85

Finder Chart

The Snake nebula can be found in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is best visible in the months from March to August.

History

Physical Properties

Finder Chart

Objects Within a Radius of 10°

References