the.cosmic.arena
LDN 1235 - A Shark in Cepheus
In the Cepheus constellation there are vast nebulae complexes, some of them of dark nature, and this one - LDN (Lynds Dark Nebula) 1235 - is quite well known due to its resemblance to a shark.
These dark nebulae are opaque clouds of dust and gas blocking the light of the stars behind. But some of this dust has some bright due to photoluminescence, a phenomenon in which the dust and gas are hit by high energy radiation and exhibit glow due to it.
In addition, two reflexion nebulas can be seen - van den Bergh 149 (vdB 149) and vdB150. These are the two blue areas near the center and its color arises from the two hot stars nearby which illuminates the dust around them.
This image is my first case where data from two different years was used. In 2021 some RGB data was collected but I didn’t feel it was enough for a good image but I had no opportunity to shoot again back then. This year I took some luminance data to complete it and take it out my WIP list… :D
Shot at Santa Susana, Portugal (Bortle 4) on 2021.07.16 (RGB) and 2022.08.23 (LUM)
Technical details:
LUM: 127 x 180 s (6h21)
RGB: 90 x 240 s (6h00)
TS Optics Triplet APO 800/115 | QHYCCD 268M | QHYCCD 268C | Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro | Optolong L | TSOptics TSFLAT 3’ 0.79x | RB Focus Gaius-S
Acquisition: N.I.N.A. | Processing: Pixinsight
LDN 1235 - A Shark in Cepheus
In the Cepheus constellation there are vast nebulae complexes, some of them of dark nature, and this one - LDN (Lynds Dark Nebula) 1235 - is quite well known due to its resemblance to a shark.
These dark nebulae are opaque clouds of dust and gas blocking the light of the stars behind. But some of this dust has some bright due to photoluminescence, a phenomenon in which the dust and gas are hit by high energy radiation and exhibit glow due to it.
In addition, two reflexion nebulas can be seen - van den Bergh 149 (vdB 149) and vdB150. These are the two blue areas near the center and its color arises from the two hot stars nearby which illuminates the dust around them.
This image is my first case where data from two different years was used. In 2021 some RGB data was collected but I didn’t feel it was enough for a good image but I had no opportunity to shoot again back then. This year I took some luminance data to complete it and take it out my WIP list… :D
Shot at Santa Susana, Portugal (Bortle 4) on 2021.07.16 (RGB) and 2022.08.23 (LUM)
Technical details:
LUM: 127 x 180 s (6h21)
RGB: 90 x 240 s (6h00)
TS Optics Triplet APO 800/115 | QHYCCD 268M | QHYCCD 268C | Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro | Optolong L | TSOptics TSFLAT 3’ 0.79x | RB Focus Gaius-S
Acquisition: N.I.N.A. | Processing: Pixinsight