Snake Nebula (Barnard 72)
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
| Name | RA [hms] | Dec [dms] |
|---|---|---|
| Barnard 68, LDN57 | 17 22 38.2 | -23 49 34 |
| Barnard 69, LDN55 | 17 23 00.0 | -23 53 00 |
| Barnard 70, LDN54 | 17 23 36.0 | -23 58 00 |
| Barnard 71, LDN53 | 17 23 29.0 | -24 02 30 |
| Barnard 72, LDN66 | 17 23 39.0 | -23 41 42 |
| Barnard 73 | 17 24 06.0 | -24 17 00 |
| Barnard 74 | 17 25 06.0 | -24 12 00 |
| Barnard 75, LDN112 | 17 25 00.0 | -21 53 00 |
| Barnard 76 | 17 25 00.0 | -24 24 00 |
| Barnard 77, LDN69 | 17 27 58.3 | -23 59 58 |
| Barnard 255, LDN59 | 17 20 36.0 | -23 23 00 |
| Barnard 261, LDN85 | 17 25 50.6 | -23 00 56 |
Finder Chart
The Snake nebula can be found in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is best visible in the months from March through August.
