This deep sky object (DSO) is cataloged as LDN 183 after Lynds catalog of Dark Nebula and is located in the contrellation Serpens. There are very few images of this on Astrobin or any where else and I suspect because of its proximity to much more popular objects around the Antares/Rho Ophiuchi region. For example, this happens to be about 10-15 degrees higher than the Blue Horsehead Nebula. Trees block my view of this region so I went after LDN 183 which is that much higher. Fortunately I love imaging dark dusty regions in space even though they are tough to process and this was no exception. Trying to determine which colors to enhance in order to give the optimal contrast without increasing the noise is one of the toughest and most time consuming parts.
This is the last image with the Hotech Field Flattener for a while since I will be moving on to bigger objects rather the small galaxies. I was a little worried at first about purchasing this FF but have been really impressed with it as it exceeded my expectations. I have since replaced it with the AT Field Flattener/Focal Reducer combo - this object would have been better suited with the AT FF/FR combo.
The Luminosity and red channel data was really good, however, the green and blue channel data was collected when the moon was out and on its way to becoming more of a nuisance for a while. Luckily the most important data for dark nebula is Luminosity. If I had to wait for the "right conditions" conditions to image living in Southern Connecticut I would be lucky to do one image a year. Anyway, I was delighted to image this dusty gaseous region. The main portion of the nebula is more on the left side of the image towards the bright blue star. Most of the stars appear red-orange due to the molecular cloud.
Date: 5-20-20, 5-21-20, 5-23-20, 5-26-20, 5-31-20
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1
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