R Coronae Australis is an irregular variable star ranging from magnitudes 9.7 to 13.9. This very young star is still accumulating interstellar material. Its obscured by, and illuminates the surrounding nebula NGC 6729, which brightens and darkens with it. The nebula is often compared to a comet for its appearance in a telescope, as its length is five times its width. NGC 6729 was first discovered by Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt in 1865.