The battle of two dragons in the constellation Altar (Ara). However, their battle is only an illusion of dust and gas about 4000 light years away from us. The region is a very active star-forming region with young hot stars surrounded by cosmic dust and gas. The stars are so bright that their stellar wind energises the surrounding gas to glow red. But their light is also reflected by the dust between the stars, creating a diffuse blue glow.
I photographed nebulae and structures in Namibia with a filter that essentially only allows to pass red light of hydrogen and the blue-green light of oxygen. I added the stars from photos taken at the same time by Andy Bender and Nico Gärtner.
Dragons of Ara – NGC6188