Stellar Nursery in Perseus

Our Milky Way is actually full of dust, but hidden in the black starry background, it is not easy to see. Only by accumulating a long time of exposure, the dust that pervades the stars will show up, presenting rich details of intricate complexity.

This large patch of dust in the picture is part of the Perseus molecular cloud, located at the junction of Taurus, Aries, and Perseus, about 1,000 light years away from the Earth. The dust with a total mass equivalent to 10,000 suns is gathered in clusters or twisted into twists. The thick areas are dense and opaque, and darker than space itself.

In this darkest corner, new light is gestating.

The dust near the center, a little red light came out from it, that was a star cluster forming in it. Beside this dust, a newborn star dispelled the haze, illuminating the surroundings with bright light, and became the brightest deep sky object in this area.

In the new Chinese year of the ox, may the world sweep away the dust, dispel darkness, and reappear light.

Location: Hebei Kangbao Galaxy Observatory

Filming time: November 7, 2020-February 4, 2021

Telescope: Sharpstar 150 2.8 HNT

Camera: QHY268C

Mount: Aton iOptron CEM70/CEM60

Guide : QHYCCD OAG-M

Guide camera: QHY5L-II-M

Number of shots: 130×1000 seconds, 70×300 seconds

Cumulative exposure: 41.9 hours

Shooting software: APT

Processing software: PixInsight, PhotoShop

Copyright: Steed Yu