Wednesday, May 14, 2025

This image captures a patch of sky in the region of Scorpius surrounding Jabbah, the bright star visible on the left, shrouded in a dusty cloud of blue hues. Although Jabbah appears to be a single star, it is part of a multiple star system, composed of as many as seven stars, each of which is much more massive, hotter and brighter than our Sun. The system is located about 440 light-years away and illuminates a gigantic cloud of gas and dust that has been given the evocative name of the Blue Horsehead Nebula. The blue hue of the cloud surrounding Jabbah, which defines the eye of the celestial horse, is due to the fact that interstellar dust scatters the blue light of nearby massive stars more efficiently than the red light. A second reflection nebula is visible around the two stars at the center of the image. . To take this shot I planned a trip 400km from home, in Val d'Orcia (Tuscany) away from the strong light pollution present in Campania in a southerly direction. Despite the poor integration, hindered by unfavorable weather conditions, the details achieved exceeded my expectations. Once again the very bright 135mm Samyang lens closed at f2.8 represented an excellent travel tool for its focal length, weight and size.