Can you see the baby octopus with blue eyes staring at you?
IC 4685 is often overlooked by astrophotographers in favour of it's more famous neighbour, M8.
The signature dark river, (upper centre, B303) is very cool.
When stars form, pandemonium reigns. Visible above are red glowing emission nebulas of hydrogen, blue reflection nebulas of dust, dark absorption nebulas of dust, and the stars that formed from them. The first massive stars formed from the dense gas will emit energetic light and winds that erode, fragment, and sculpt their birthplace. And then they explode. The resulting morass can be as beautiful as it is complex. After tens of millions of years, the dust boils away, the gas gets swept away, and all that is left is a naked open cluster of stars. (text- apod)
Very challenging to image from light pollutionville, I had to use several advanced PS masking and layering techniques to create this final image.
Might have finally put a decent sized band-aid on the tilt in the system as well
Hope you enjoy the (edited) result!
Andy Campbell, Melbourne Australia, July 2020
