Raymo,
Not too bad for a blind and brain-dead astrophotographer...
There is one spot that lies within this photo that is truly astounding, yet I've never seen any pics dedicated to it - the northern edge of the Coal Sack and encompassing Mimosa. I've marked it in the pic below of yours.
What is so dramatic about this area is that the northern edge of the Coal Sack is its sharpest edge, but it is also very fibrous with cascading tendrils of dark material, swirls, and background stars playing peek-a-boo through the dark nebula. The Jewel Box sits immediately north, with its brilliance and colours, along with other smaller open clusters surrounding it. And of course there is the brilliant Mimosa. All of this set upon a very mottled background Milky Way.
A few years back, I arrived late to the IIS Astro Camp, and it was sunset by the time I had my camp settled. The night is gorgeous and clear, and I wasn't in the mood to set up my big dob after the busy day. So I set up my little 4" refractor armed with just the one eyepiece, a 30mm 82° bruiser, which gives a huge 5" true field of view. I did two sketches that night, one of Omega Centauri (the field it sits within is sooooo blooming busy! and no one seems to know about it as they are so focused on the GC), and this very area of the Coal Sack that I've been talking about.
You might like to investigate taking a pic of this very same region. I really think it is a totally unexplored composition that I'm sure will be a technical challenge with the subtleties involved. Below is my sketch that I did at the IIS Astro Camp. Note with the sketch that it is orientated left-to-right because of the diagonal used with the refractor.
Alex.
