Dust in Lupus

[kosborn]

This is Barnard 228, also known as the Dark Wolf Nebula, part of the molecular cloud in Lupus. I can only guess that it's named after the constellation, not its appearance, because I really can't see any wolves here! I took this image with a Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED combined with a Starizona 0.65x reducer, resulting in a pretty fast f/3.75 (for a refractor). My suburban backyard is transforming night by night from a Bortle 4 to a Bortle 5, so not a really dark site. Despite that, I'm happy with the amount of detail in the dust given the conditions. Acquisition details and a link to a bigger image are on Astrobin (https://www.astrobin.com/idkf3e/).

Thanks for looking, Kevin

[AstroJason]

Really like this Kevin, love shots of dark nebula they always seem to have a real 3D effect. I am working on a similar image and can't get the clarity and separation of the dust you have got with your shot. Very nicely done!

[marc4darkskies]

Very pretty Kevin! Nicely processed. :thumbsup:

[Retrograde]

Excellent image Kevin.
You've picked up plenty of dust and gone nice and deep despite your less than perfectly dark skies.

[strongmanmike]

Some funky stars going on at full res (price one pays for imaging that fast I guess?) but otherwise, that's a great result Kevin, especially from what I'd guess you'd call a semi dark site, the dust looks lovely and..?..like dust, ie dusty, as it should, well done :thumbsup:

Mike

[Dave882]

Really lovely image! I love these dusty vistas…completely unattainable from my location. I love the 3D appearance of the dust, so delicate and rich. Lovely!

[kosborn]

Thanks guys, I enjoyed going wide field and broadband. The last few I've done have small FOV and narrowband.



I notice you're in Sydney. My Bortle 4, going on 5, skies are challenging enough when imaging dust. It must be harder still in Sydney!



Thanks Mike. I was sorta hoping no one would notice the funky stars. I've used the reducer before but with a 4/3 size camera sensor and it was ok. For this one I used an APS-C sized sensor. I might need to fiddle more carefully with backspacing (even though I thought I had it right).

Kevin

[Ryderscope]

An excellent dusty vista Kevin. These dusty areas with dark nebula make for great compositions :thumbsup:

[matlud]

Super image Kevin! Processing these dust clouds can be a challenge and you’ve done a great job.
CS
Mat