Rising like a ghostly form in the dark recesses of the Cepheus constellation, LDN 1235—also known as the Shark Nebula—prowls the sky in this deep-sky portrait from Rancho Corral Falso, Baja California, Mexico. Composed of cold, dense interstellar dust, this dark nebula blocks background starlight while subtly reflecting that of embedded and nearby stars, particularly the blue ones on its flank.

The Shark Nebula is part of a vast complex of dark nebulae and molecular clouds cataloged by Lynds. Though it appears opaque, careful long-exposure imaging reveals its intricate details and faint blue reflection zones. These regions indicate that the nebula isn't entirely devoid of light, some of the starlight escapes scattering, allowing us to witness its haunting shape against the cosmic backdrop.

Image Description and Details :

The Shark Nebula, a large, faint molecular dust cloud in the constellation Cepheus lies around 650 light years distant. The cloud was nicknamed the Shark Nebula since it looks like a shark in wide field images. Within the molecular cloud are several objects. LDN 1235 is a dark dusty patch near the head of the shark. Two beautiful blue reflection nebula, lit up by hot B8IV stars lie above and below. VdB 150 is the top reflection nebula and VdB 149 is the bottom one. Off near the right edge is the galaxy PGC 67671 lying some 50million light years distant. The image was taken at the Okie Tex Star Party in October of this year.Stellarvue SVX 152 refractor at f8, ZWO ASI 6200 camera riding on a Paramount MyT. Image acquisition controlled by the Voyager. The image is LRGB.Luminance: 435min, Red: 185min, Green: 190min, Blue: 195min for a total of 16hrs 45min. Processing done with

Copyright: Jonathan Talbot

Image Description and Details :

The goal of the image was to go deep enough to show the underlaying dust around this already faint target. Multiple processing techniques were needed to be developed in order to be able to pull out the details on the faintest areas.

Telescope: Borg 101ED f/4
Camera: QHYCCD 163M
Mount: SkyWatcher HEQ 5 Rowan Belt Mod


Exposures:
Optolong B 36mm: 44x300" (3h 40') (gain: 174.00) -10C bin 1x1
Optolong G 36mm: 44x300" (3h 40') (gain: 174.00) -10C bin 1x1
Optolong L 36mm: 163x300" (13h 35') (gain: 174.00) -10C bin 1x1
Optolong R 36mm: 48x300" (4h) (gain: 174.00) -10C bin 1x1
Integration Time: 24h 55m

Copyright: Alberto Ibañez

Image Description and Details :

Taken from rural Ontario skies.

Equipment: Nikon d810A and Esprit 80 APO.

About 5 hours total exposure.

Processed in Pix.

Copyright Information: Dave Dev

Image Description and Details :

Observing sessions :22 Apr...27 May 2020
Site : QUART (Aosta Valley) Italy
Telescope : SharpStar AL 107-PH
Camera : Moravian G2-8300
Autoguiding : ZWO ASI 174MM-Mini (Mono)
Focal Reducer : TS Photoline 3" x0,79

Filters:
Optolong CLS-CCD 1,25" 61x600sec
Astronomik Deep-Sky CCD-R 51x360sec
Astronomik Deep-Sky CCD-G 37x360sec
Astronomik Deep-Sky CCD-B 49x360sec

Total Integration: 23,9h

Pocessed with PixInsight 1.8.8.5 and Photoshop 6

Copyright Information: Marco Stra