The Spider’s Leg
Image Details:
Barnard 18 is an area of Dark Nebula, which is a collection of interstellar gas and dust which is dense enough to block out most or all visible light from the stars within and behind it. This area of sky is located in Taurus (in relative proximity to the Pleiades from our perspective) and is a part of the Taurus molecular cloud (roughly ~430 light-year distance).
Shot in late Autumn of 2020. Dark Nebula are probably the most difficult objects to shoot in light polluted-areas. While the Bortle 4 of my backyard may be considered a premium dark site by those living in areas of intense light pollution, I still needed numerous integration time in Luminance (which captures the entire spectrum of visible light) to sufficiently separate the dim nebula off of the barely darker background of empty space.
Equipment:
William Optics Star71-II Petzval APO (345mm Focal Length, F/4.9)
ZWO ASI1600MM-P, ZWO Filters
Celestron CGEM-II
Autoguiding: Orion 50mm Guidescope + ZWO ASI224MC
Exposures:
Luminance: 684 x 120” (Total: 22h 48m)
Red, Green, Blue: 97, 95, 91 x 300” (Total: 23h 35m)
Misc Details:
Capture Software: AstrophotographyTool, PHD2 (guiding), Celestron CPWI (mount control), Pegasus Powerbox (dew heater control, power management)
Processing Software: PixInsight
Taken from: Wichita, KS, Bortle 4
Capture Dates: 16-17, 19 November, 6-9, 16-17 December, 2020