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
...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
...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"). 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
Chamaeleon Molecular Cloud (click on image to enlarge)
A larger image is available to surf
HERE try shrinking it in your browser to fit it all on your screen
Fun (dusty) stuff
Mike