Chamaeleon Molecular Cloud

[strongmanmike]

I have always wanted to image this amazing area of very faint molecular dust in Chamaeleon and while the well know bright nebs were in my targets, this is the sort of field I really got the FSQ for :D...so, Voila! It is certainly a challenge to render well due to its extreme faintness and for me the fact that it moves through my worst part of the sky, the upper regions of the Canberra light dome, didn't help :doh:...never the less, my skies are still dark enough to return a respectable result, so I am happy with how it came together and as usual, t'was perfect guiding and no clouds for the four nights, so no dud subs out of the total of 102..love it :)

Centered at 80deg South, this 4deg X 4deg field, of very faint dusty molecular material, forms part of the much larger Chamaeleon Molecular Cloud (or "complex") (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaeleon_complex). This dusty material fills the constellation of Chameleon and beyond, in the far southern sky, not far from the South Celestial Pole.

As usual, all imaging details are under the image :thumbsup:

Chamaeleon Molecular Cloud (https://www.flickr.com/photos/strongman/39602314994/in/dateposted-public/) (click on image to enlarge)

A larger image is available to surf HERE (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/166916286/original) try shrinking it in your browser to fit it all on your screen :)

Fun (dusty) stuff

Mike

[multiweb]

That qualifies as a dirty picture.. cough.. cough.. cough..
Very cool though. Quite a challenge to process faint stuff in widefields. :thumbsup:

[atalas]

:eyepop:...is very good :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[DJT]

Noice! Certainly different at this time of year.

:thumbsup:

[Bart]

Crikey, Mikey! :eyepop: That is very nice! :party2:

[RickS]

Love it, Mike :thumbsup: I've always wanted to do part of this cloud.

[Andy01]

A compelling and fascinating image - makes one realize that star forming regions arn't always bright nebs.
Is that due to age? Gravitational forces? Hmmmm....
Sooooo much dust - now I've washed my face :lol: I can really appreciate the huge scale, given what you have already shown us with previous, well known targets.
IMO this is a bit of amateur science, far more than just a pretty picture (which it is as well) :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Both deep and meaningful! I'm guessing it's broadly like the Pleiades, or Rho Ophiuchii, but with no extra-bright blue stars immediately nearby to light it up, just a general ghostly glow. Superbly executed and processed.

Best,
MBJ

[Atmos]

I feel dirty just looking at it!
Magnificent Mike :thumbsup:

As you say, this kind of stuff is what the FSQ is for :)

[strongmanmike]

It is indeed a challenge to image faint stuff, careful stretching is the trickiest bit, gradients too but luckily they actually weren't too bad in this case.



Thanks Louie :)



Yes, not imaged often at all Dave



Glad you like it Bart :thumbsup:



Cheers Ricki, I probably should have waited a couple of months and imaged it moving into the other side of the meridian as that would have put it further out of the Canberra light dome...buuuut I was impatient :P



These sorts of areas make me think of the stuff we are all made of and how it was before it all evolved into us over billions of years.....and what we will all eventually be part of again billions of years from now.....ready to make new us's :P



Thanks M&T and I imagine you are right :thumbsup:

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Col :thumbsup:...now... what to image neeeext :question: :rundog: :P

MIke

[topheart]

It's too big...I can't cope!!

Hey Mike that is an outstanding image. One of the most beautiful images I have seen - such variety in space, it is mind blowing.

Cheers,
Tim

[h0ughy]

sorry but i want more at the bottom and more at the top, its like watching a movie and walking out with 20min to go. Far too good to pass up, fantastic with 2 academy awards......

[SimmoW]

Definitely poster material Mike! Nice original work, well done

[strongmanmike]

Wow, that's nice to hear Tim, thankyou so much :love2: :cheers:



I hear ya Houghy, I hear ya, bit like the LMC, hard to decide which bit to frame, so many cool bits everywhere :)



Thank you Simon, so glad you enjoyed the result :thumbsup:

Mike

[markas]

Splendid image, Mike! Unusual and wonderful.

Mark

[strongmanmike]

Thanks a lot Mark :thumbsup: I guess it is a bit of a change from all the Eta Carina's being posted at the moment :eyepop: err?.. including mine :whistle:

Mike

[Paul Haese]

I really like this image. Makes me wish I had kept my FSQ. The colour is great and the gas is well shown. :thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

Really nice Mike. I wonder if the E3 globular cluster is visible in this field?

Steve

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo of a dark and difficult to image region Mike.

You have brought out so much sharp detail.

I love the colour and, as always, nicely composed.

Ross.

[OzEclipse]

Great image Mike!

Joe

[strongmanmike]

Cheers gentleman I was quite happy with the result so very glad you liked it :thumbsup:

Mike

[marc4darkskies]

Nup, I don't like it at all. The frame is full of brown stuff!! :P

Ignoring that, I loved it! :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Marcus...you have the machines required to clear some of that brown stuff now :P

Mike

[gregbradley]

I missed this one. Boy that's a cracker, one of your best for quite a while.
Great processing too - you brought out all that faint dust so its stands out nicely with no noise.

I can see what you mean, this is the FSQ at its best and a perfect target for it.

Nice one.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Hey thanks heaps Greg :thumbsup:

Just quietly...I've been pretty happy with every image this combo has produced so far actually, the two of them together work like magic, I'm just the custodian pointing them in the right direction :lol:

Mike

[rally]

Mike,

I really like this one.
I find I like the sublime monotone dust images better than than the colourful nebs most of the time.

I think its a bit bit like comparing a beautiful black and white image with the colour version - for me the B+W wins most often.

It will be my new Desktop image if that is OK with you ?

Thanks for sharing

Rally

[strongmanmike]

Yeah well look Rally :question:.. I charge $100 to use one of my images on your desk top...per day! :rofl:

Kidding

Cheers mate and thanks for the nice feedback, my wife agrees, she likes minimalist too, she often likes my raw data more than the finished product :lol: :thumbsup:

Mike

[alocky]

Amazing what a filthy place our galaxy has become. Someone needs to clean it.
I love these shots, not only first-rate hardware, but dark skies and a fair degree of processing skill have to come together to make it look so natural. Definitely out of reach of us city-bound imagers!
cheers,
Andrew.

[strongmanmike]

Thanks a lot Andrew, yes dark skies do help a lot with such faint extended field dusty stuff, be good to shoot from true dark skies...aaah sigh...

Mike

[Shano592]

You really pick some obscure things to image.

And we all appreciate it.

Great image.

[strongmanmike]

Cool, nice to know Shane :thanx:

Mike

[Ryderscope]

Brilliant, these dusty areas do make great imaging targets and certainly suits the FSQ.

[strongmanmike]

Thanks a lot Rodney, yeah the scope is a beauty :)

Mike

[tornado33]

Very impressive capturing a molecular cloud lit only by the background milky way :)

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Scotty. Rather than with Galactic Cirrus and although similarly faint, I think this sort of cloud is actually lit from stars within..?

Mike