Located northeast (left) of Pleiades, south of California Nebula and north (above) of Aldebaran, spanning more than 30o of the night sky is the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC), a rich area of dark nebulae punctuated by bright areas of new star formation. Moreover, the TMC is thought to be the nearest star forming region to Earth.
Herschel Space Observatory far-infrared’s view of the TMC & approximate image location
All-in-all, the very large TMC provides many promising imaging opportunities. This image captures numerous, complex dark nebulae across the field-of-view, including Barnard 10 & 214, LDN 1495 & VdB 27, together with bright reflection nebulae LBN 782 & 785 and the odd galaxy – if you look carefully.
IMAGING DETAILS
Object
Barnard 10, VdB 27, LBN 782 & 785
Constellation
Taurus
Distance
450 light-years
Scope
William Optics GT81 + Focal Reducer FL 382mm f4.72
Mount
SW AZ-EQ6 GT + EQASCOM computer control & Cartes du Ciel
Guiding
William Optics 50mm guide scope
+ Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 camera & PHD2 guiding
Camera
ZWO ASI294MM CMOS sensor
FOV 2.87o x 1.96o Resolution 2.50”/pix Max. image size 4,144 x 2,822 pix
EFW
ZWOx8 EFW & LRGB 31mm Chroma filters
Capture & Processing
Astro Photography Tool (APT), Deep Sky Stacker & PixInsight v1.8.9-2
Image Location & Orientation
Centre = RA 04:20:19.60 DEC +27:22:.07.66 Right = North
Exposures
L x50, R x30, G x31, B x27 x300 sec Total Integration Time: 11hr 30 min
@ Gain 120 & Offset 30 @ -15oC
Calibration
5 x 300 sec Darks 10 x NB Flats & Dark Flats @ ADU 32,000
Location & Darkness
Fairvale Observatory – Redhill – Surrey – UK Typically Bortle 5 / 6
Date & Time
6th 7th 14th November 2023 + 15th January 2024 @ +21.00h
This Christmas marks the 10th edition of my astrophotography calendar, consisting of my better images from the previous 12-months, which I produce for myself and members of the family. Wow doesn’t time fly? Based on these images, I also compile a video of the images set to music, which we all watch together before seeing the actual calendar. It’s become something of an occasion and is a great way to present the images, which look wonderful on today’s smart TV’s and is fun to watch and share with the family.
THE CALENDAR
Much longer imaging times (total of more than 145 hours), re-imaging old favourites in new ways and unusual, overlooked, or difficult objects, resulted in a very good 2023 astrophotography year and perhaps the best calendar yet? The calendar for 2024 on YouTube can be viewed by clicking HERE and below is a brief overview of each image. More detailed background information and imaging details for those interested can be found in relevant blogs I posted on this website. The background music is the track Appleshine from Underworld’s album Drift.
COVER
SH2-284: Close-up of April’s image – along the inside of the ring structure are many dark dust pillars and globules, which on the right seem to resemble a hand with a bony finger pointing inwards!
JANUARY
NGC 1333: Nestled within the western area of the Perseus Molecular Cloud, some 1,100 light-years from Earth is the colourful NGC 1333 reflection nebula, one of the closest and most active star-forming regions of the night-sky.
FEBRUARY
Spaghetti Nebula: Straddling the boundary of Taurus and Auriga constellations, is the giant supernova remnant (SNR) Simeis-147. The stellar explosion occurred 40,000 years ago, leaving a rapidly spinning neutron star or pulsar at the core of the now complex and the expanding SNR.
MARCH
Aurora Borealis: Situated just below the Arctic Circle, Iceland is well known both for its geology and views of the Aurora Borealis, which we saw in March on the south coast near Kirkjubaejarkklaustur.
APRIL
SH2-284: A star-forming region of dust and gases, sculpted by radiation and interstellar winds emanating from a young (3 to 4 million years) star cluster located near the centre.
MAY
M3 Globular Cluster*: Consisting of 500,000 stars and over 11 billion years old, M3 is one of150 globular clusters that orbit around the Milky Way Galaxy.
JUNE
M27 Apple Core Nebula*: A planetary nebula, consisting of a glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from a red giant star in its late stage of life to become a white dwarf. Complex hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue) fans form around the outer regions, with a pulsar-like beam transecting the nebula.
JULY
Monkey Head Nebula: Located6,400 light years from Earth in the Orion constellation, the ‘Monkey’ is a so-called emission nebula, where new stars are being created within at a rapid rate.
AUGUST
SH2-115: This widefield image contains a richness of various emission nebulae, centred around the distinctive large blue SH2-115 region. Just to the left of SH2-115 is the small but enigmatic SH2-116 a faint, blue disc thought to be a planetary nebula.
SEPTEMBER
LDN-768 Black Cat Nebula: Close to M27 in the constellation of Vulpecula (“Little Fox”), is a dense region of stars broken-up by dark nebulae to create intriguing shapes. Here strung out from left-to-right, several of the dark nebulae seem to coalesce (visually) to create the form of a black cat.
OCTOBER
SH2-126 Great Lacerta Nebula: On the western edge of the Milky Way in the southern part of Lacerta, is the very large but faint emission nebula SH2-126. The red filament structures stretch over 3 degrees, to the right is the Gecko Nebula, a molecular cloud associated with bright young stars.
NOVEMBER
Flaming Star & Tadpoles Nebula: Two emission nebulae: dust & gas of the Flaming Star (below) combined with red ionized hydrogen gas produces a flame affect. Above, the stellar winds and radiation pressure from hot massive stars creates the Tadpoles ‘wriggling’ away from the centre.
DECEMBER
M51 Whirlpool Galaxy*: As the smaller galaxy passes behind M51, joint gravitational forces are interacting, resulting in the misalignment of stars and unusually bright blue and pink areas across the Whirlpool galaxy. Their fates are inextricably linked and might eventually merge.
Footnote: All images taken from Redhill, Surrey or telescope at a dark sky site in New Mexico,USA shown by an asterisk*
Two months past the summer solstice in late August, shortly after the new moon, I was drawn to the constellation of Vulpecula (Latin for “little fox) and an interesting region of reflection and dark nebulae that provide good imaging possibilities. In particular, a vast area of stars in which the contrasting dark nebulae create some intriguing shapes.
At the centre of the resulting image, strung out from east to west (left to right), several of the dark nebulae seem to coalesce (visually) to create the form of a black cat: LDN 773, 774, 769 & 768; an alternative interpretation is that of the Loch Ness Montser. Further enhancing the image, the cat is adorned by two large, bright orange stars near its head and within the ‘body’ to the right, several various reflection nebulae created by hot blue stars (VdB 126 / LBN 133 & 134 etc.).
Moreover, above the cat’s head another group of dark nebula form what I’d describe as a furled umbrella (LDN 781, 782, 783 & 779). Finally, towards the lower right edge of the image (below the cat’s rear leg) is the open star cluster of NGC 6793.
Apart from its obvious beauty, the inspiration for this image was my four-year old granddaughter who just loves cats – especially her own one-eyed black cat!
IMAGING DETAILS
Object
LDN 768, LDN 772, LDN 781, Vdb 126, LBN 133
Constellation
Vulpecula
Distance
Various
Size
Various
Apparent Magnitude
Various
Scope
William Optics GT81 + Focal Reducer FL 382mm f4.72
Mount
SW AZ-EQ6 GT + EQASCOM computer control & Cartes du Ciel
Guiding
William Optics 50mm guide scope
+ Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 camera & PHD2 guiding
Camera
ZWO ASI294MM CMOS sensor
FOV 2.87o x 1.96o Resolution 2.50”/pix Max. image size 4,144 x 2,822 pix
Just northeast of the Pleiades star cluster within the northern Milky Way, lies the dark region of the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC), which at 430 light years is the nearest star-forming region to Earth. Consisting of hundreds of solar masses of primordial hydrogen and helium gas, as well as heavier elements, this vast area of dense stardust obscures almost all light from behind. As such it forms an alluring target for astrophotography, with the complex rift-like dark structure of the TMC set against the broad starry background of the Taurus constellation.
Approximate Image Location
Notwithstanding, perhaps because of the more popular objects that abound throughout its neighbour the Orion constellation, the TMC is somewhat neglected by astronomers; to be fair the TMC is also a more challenging imaging target than many of those found in Orion. Early this year, for the first time I decided to image the dark nebula Barnard 22, an iconic section of the TMC formed by a complex mass of dark stardust that appears to hang within the vast surrounding starfield.
Approaching the new moon in late January I obtained almost 11 hours of LRGB subs, though sadly was unable to incorporate another 6-hours of 10-minute luminance exposures which proved to be too bright to use: note-to-self– check settings for new objects before embarking on long imaging programme! To achieve a balance between the large black smudge that is B 22 and the brilliance of the surrounding stars processing was tricky but the final outcome satisfying. Also noteworthy in the image, just off centre is the small flame-shaped reflection nebula IC 2087, the light from which just manages to emerge from behind the otherwise dominant, though beguiling form of Barnard 22, which like night itself seems to casts a dark veil over the cosmos.
IMAGING DETAILS
Objects
Barnard 22 dark nebula & IC 2087 reflection nebula
Constellation
Taurus
Distance
Approx.. 430 light years
Size
–
Apparent Magnitude
Varies
Scope
William Optics GT81 + Focal Reducer FL 382mm f4.72
Mount
SW AZ-EQ6 GT + EQASCOM computer control & Cartes du Ciel
Guiding
William Optics 50mm guide scope
+ Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 camera & PHD2 guiding
Camera
ZWO1600MM-Cool mono CMOS sensor
FOV 2.65o x 2.0o Resolution 2.05”/pix Max. image size 4,656 x 3,520 pix
EFW
ZWOx8 EFW & 31mm Chroma LRGB filters
Capture & Processing
Astro Photography Tool + PHD2 + Deep Sky Stacker, PixInsight v1.8.8-12, Photoshop CC, Topaz AI DeNoise
Image Location & Orientation
Centre RA 04:39:00.365 DEC +26:00:13.426 Lower Left = North
Exposures
120 x 180 sec L, 19 x 300 sec R, 20 x 300 sec G & B Total Integration Time: 10hr 55 min
@ 139 Gain 21 Offset @ -20oC
Calibration
10 x 60 sec Darks 15 x LRGB Flats & Dark Flats @ ADU 25,000
Location & Darkness
Fairvale Observatory – Redhill – Surrey – UK Typically Bortle 5-6
Date & Time
27th 29th 31st January + 4th & 6th February 2022 @ +18.30h
Every year since 2014 I’ve published a retrospective blog of my astrophotgraphy year just ending called Reflections. It’s been a useful task that enables me to bring together the best and sometimes the worst of my images, in order to consider the good and bad points + progress made + set some objectives for the coming year. Eight years on, after which I believe I’ve now reached at least a respectable level of imaging and processing, I’ve decided to stop this format for the time being.
Notwithstanding, at this time of the year I also produce an astrophotography calendar for members of my family, which consists of the better images from the year just ending; I think they like them and certainly all use the calendar during the coming year. Moreover, I also recently started to compile a video of the said calendar images set to appropriate music, which we all watch together prior to seeing the actual calendar. It’s a great way to present the images, which look really stunning on today’s large Smart TV’s and is fun to watch with the family too.
The video for this last year 2021 can be viewed on YouTubeHERE and below is a brief very general overview of each image. More detailed background information and imaging details for those interested can be found in relevant blogs posted on this site during the past year.
2022 CALENDAR
A new set of filters, improved processing techniques and access to data from a telescope at a dark sky site in New Mexico, USA (shown by an asterisk *) contributed to an exciting astrophotography year in 2021.
FRONT COVER
The Carnival of Animals: Special processing of the inner region of the Rosette Nebula highlights the ‘animals’ or Bok Globules – clouds of dust undergoing gravitational collapse as part of the process of new star formation.
JANUARY
LDN-1250 Dark Nebula*: Dark or absorption nebulae are a type of interstellar cloud which are so dense they obscure or absorb visible light emitted from objects behind or within and thereby contrast with the general light flux of the Universe as dark areas.
FEBRUARY
CTB-1 Supernova Remnant*: The overall structure of this supernova remnant is that of a circular shell, with a conspicuous rupture towards the north (lower right of image). The main red Ha-shell is composed of multiple interlocking filament limbs, with a blue / green OIII arc along one side.
MARCH
Jellyfish Nebula: Locatedin the Gemini constellation some 5,000 light years from Earth, this is a remnant of a supernova that took place during the past 30,000 years. With a diameter of 70 light-years, the object is visually speaking nearly twice the size of a full moon.
APRIL
Markarian’s Chain: The Virgo cluster consists of more than 2,000 galaxies, within which Markarian’s Chain forms a J-curve string of bright galaxies that share a common motion through space.
MAY
M13 Great Globular Cluster of Hercules*: Consisting of several hundred thousand stars and 145 light-years in diameter, M13 is considered to be the finest cluster in the Northern Hemisphere.
JUNE
Cave Nebula*: Located along the plane of the Milky Way is the diffuse emission nebula referred to as the Cave Nebula. The Cave at the centre is critically located at the boundary of the Cepheus molecular cloud and the hot, young stars which ionize the surrounding gases to great effect.
JULY
Orion Widefield: Framed around the area of Orion’s Belt, the Horsehead Nebula and the Great Orion Nebula, look hard and the refection nebula M78 can also be seen in the lower left corner.
AUGUST
Elephant’s Trunk Nebula*: A very large emission nebula, the so-called Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is rightly viewed as one of astrophotography’s most iconic images. The ‘trunk’ itself dominates the centre of this image and is illuminated from behind by a bright star forming region.
SEPTEMBER
M31 Andromeda Galaxy: The full benefit of new filters, improved guiding, clear skies over 6-nights and extensive use of new processing techniques can be seen in my best image yet of Andromeda.
OCTOBER
Butterfly Nebula: Situatedwithin the Orion Arm of the Milky Way is the Gamma Cygni nebula, a diffuse emission nebula surrounding the star Sadr. Either side of the dark rift which divides the image from top to bottom are two large bright areas that together form the so-called Butterfly.
NOVEMBER
M33 Triangulum Galaxy: Like it’s neighbour Andromeda, better data and processing has produced an exciting new image of M33 this year, the red areas highlight Ha-rich star-forming regions
DECEMBER
Flying Bat & Giant Squid Nebula*: This very faint OIII emission nebula Ou4 required an imaging time of 40-hours. For obvious reasons Ou4 has become known as the Giant Squid Nebula which, moreover, lies within the much larger SH2-129 HII emission region or the Flying Bat Nebula.
Somewhat tongue-in cheek, astrophotography is often referred to as something of a dark art and to be fair it sometimes seems that way, particularly when it comes to processing. My main interests in astrophotography are Deep Sky Objects such as emission nebulae, galaxies and planetary nebula but have long aspired to capture a more elusive category that abounds throughout the Universe – dark nebula.
Popular with astrophotographers, emission nebulae consist of vast clouds of ionised gases and regions of interstellar dust which reflect light from the said gases and or from stars and stellar nurseries that lie within – depending on their make-up the results are colourful in both broadband and narrowband wavelengths. Dark or absorption nebulae are also a type of interstellar cloud but are so dense they completely obscure and / or soak-up visible light emitted from objects behind or within, which as a result contrasts with general light flux of the Universe forming large dark regions. Because of their darkness they are usually faint, hard to see and moreover, difficult to image, especially from locations with light pollution.
The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula that has formed a part of my previous images but I’ve only imaged an isolated dark nebula once before – Barnard 142-3, which for obvious reasons is also known as the E-nebula (see above & here). Larger more complex dark nebulae require much darker skies to image than prevail at Fairvale Observatory, such as in New Mexico, USA where the Deep Sky West observatory is located and on this occasion has produced my first ‘serious’ image of a stand-alone dark nebula.
Cepheus & the aproximate location of LDN 1250 image indicated by the red square
Lynds Dark Nebula (LDN) catalogue of dark nebulae was compiled by the eponymous Beverly T. Lynds in 1962 and is based on the study of red and blue photographic prints from the National Geographic-Palomar Observatory Sky Atlas. Situated in the north close to Polaris, the constellation of Cepheus has a number of dark nebulae, of which LDN 1250 is part of a huge complex of dark nebula surrounded by dust and scattered light from the stars of Cepheus.
LDN 1250 luminance – RGB wavelengths are also strong
Imaged here in LRGB the features come out well in all wavelengths, however, such are the subtleties of the dark nebula components I found processing difficult and required plenty of ‘dark art’ techniques. The final image at the top of the page shows to good effect the main dark nebula, togeher with widespread but less opaque nebulosity and star colours, as well as some distant galaxies lurking in the background that together has produced a satisfying and very interesting outcome.
WATCH THIS SPACE(MAN) 