While going over the Milky Way image I just finished processing, my eye kept being drawn to a rope of stars peeling away from the Great Rift in Serpens Cauda, through IC 4665 in Ophiuchus, and on up into Hercules. I think this subtle tentacle of stars is probably emphasized by some even subtler swaths of galactic dust that border it. Follow the link below to a rollover graphic showing where I see this string of stars:
I tried to find evidence of it in some other Milky Way photographs, but I had a hard time finding any that framed the Milky Way like this. I did find one image that also picks up this faint river: Courtney Seligman’s Milk Way Site. I’ll be interested to see if I can pick this ‘structure’ up visually when this part of the sky returns.