Dust in Lupus

[kosborn (Kevin)]

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.

Thanks for looking, Kevin

[AstroJason (Jason)]

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 (Marcus)]

Very pretty Kevin! Nicely processed.

[Retrograde (Pete)]

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

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

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

Mike

[Dave882 (David)]

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 (Kevin)]

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Very pretty Kevin! Nicely processed.

Originally Posted by Retrograde

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

Originally Posted by 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!

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

Originally Posted by 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!

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!

Originally Posted by 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

Mike

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 (Rodney)]

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

[matlud (Mathew)]

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