The Shark Nebula My dark nebula safari continues! After…
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The Shark Nebula
My dark nebula safari continues! After imaging the Cosmic Bat (LDN 43) and the Giraffe Nebula (LDN 1295), I decided to go after one of the most famous shapes in the northern sky: LDN 1235, the Shark Nebula in the constellation Cepheus.
This is a massive dark molecular cloud, spanning about 15 light-years from head to tail. It doesn't emit light; instead, it blocks the starlight behind it. To capture the subtle brown dust and the faint blue reflection nebulae near the head (vdB 149/150), you cannot use narrowband filters. I shot this entirely unfiltered (Clear) to preserve the natural broadband colors.
The skies were quite dark, and with my fast f/3.4 optical system, the 104 exposures of 5 minutes yielded a very generous Signal-to-Noise ratio.
**Equipment:**
* **Telescope:** TS-ONTC Hypergraph 10″ (with 0.85x reducer, f/3.4)
* **Camera:** ZWO ASI2600MC DUO (-15°C)
* **Mount:** SkyWatcher EQ8R-Pro
* **Filter:** Optolong Clear (Broadband)
**Acquisition & Processing:**
* **Exposure:** 104 x 300s (Approx. 8h40m total integration).
* **Location:** Aveyron, France
* **Software:** N.I.N.A, PixInsight (DBE, SPCC, deconv, NXT, GHS), Affinity Photo.
Full HD image on my website: See first comment
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My dark nebula safari continues! After imaging the Cosmic Bat (LDN 43) and the Giraffe Nebula (LDN 1295), I decided to go after one of the most famous shapes in the northern sky: LDN 1235, the Shark Nebula in the constellation Cepheus.
This is a massive dark molecular cloud, spanning about 15 light-years from head to tail. It doesn't emit light; instead, it blocks the starlight behind it. To capture the subtle brown dust and the faint blue reflection nebulae near the head (vdB 149/150), you cannot use narrowband filters. I shot this entirely unfiltered (Clear) to preserve the natural broadband colors.
The skies were quite dark, and with my fast f/3.4 optical system, the 104 exposures of 5 minutes yielded a very generous Signal-to-Noise ratio.
**Equipment:**
* **Telescope:** TS-ONTC Hypergraph 10″ (with 0.85x reducer, f/3.4)
* **Camera:** ZWO ASI2600MC DUO (-15°C)
* **Mount:** SkyWatcher EQ8R-Pro
* **Filter:** Optolong Clear (Broadband)
**Acquisition & Processing:**
* **Exposure:** 104 x 300s (Approx. 8h40m total integration).
* **Location:** Aveyron, France
* **Software:** N.I.N.A, PixInsight (DBE, SPCC, deconv, NXT, GHS), Affinity Photo.
Full HD image on my website: See first comment
#space
source
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