LDN 1235 Shark Nebula RGB (Eric Smith)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Cepheus (Cep) · Contains: 16 Cep · 24 Cep · 78 Dra · HD208509 · HD210369 · HD210511 · HD210615 · HD210806 · HD210873 · HD211300 · HD211771 · LBN 535 · LBN 541 · LBN 546 · LDN 1235 · PQ Cep · SV Cep · The star 16 Cep · The star 24 Cep · V0445 Cep · V0858 Cep · V0879 Cep · VdB149

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LDN 1235 Shark Nebula RGB

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LDN 1235 Shark Nebula RGB

This is my first serious attempt at imaging a dark nebula.
Imaged over three consecutive nights from my home in Gergal, Spain in OSC RGB using the Baader Moon and Sky Glow filter.

The big challenge for me was to be able to bring out the details of the dark nebula, retain the background details but not too bright, and not allow the stars to become overly bloated.
In this image I used a combination of small stretches in GHS and then applied multiple masks to separate the foreground from the background using curves and histogram transformation.
To avoid the stars from being overly bloated, I removed them after three small stretches while continuing to stretch the remaining nebula details in a starless image.

I am pleased with my first results and love the tiny galaxy lurking in the middle left of the image. Despite being designated LDN 1235, this is only the very small dark patch on the front of the sharks nose, there are multiple LDN and LBN regions that make up the entire nebula.

Many thanks for looking.

Astrophotography in Spain
ZWO ASI 2600MC PRO

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	8671580
PixInsight job	EV254TEFBMMLQXLQNZJMVLMZMJ81YV50
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	22h02m29s.62
RA (top/left)	22h25m07s.50
RA (top/right)	21h39m43s.42
RA (bottom/right)	21h42m39s.60
RA (bottom/left)	22h22m43s.28

Dec (center)	+72°59′16″.1
Dec (top/left)	+74°01′22″.9
Dec (top/right)	+73°59′22″.3
Dec (bottom/right)	+71°49′05″.3
Dec (bottom/left)	+71°50′34″.5

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LDN 1235 Shark Nebula RGB

LDN 1235 Shark Nebula RGB

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LDN 1235 Shark Nebula RGB

LDN 1235 Shark Nebula RGB

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