Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Taurus (Tau)  ·  Contains:  Extremely wide field
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Pleiades and Taurus Molecular Cloud, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)
Pleiades and Taurus Molecular Cloud, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)

Pleiades and Taurus Molecular Cloud

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Pleiades and Taurus Molecular Cloud, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)
Pleiades and Taurus Molecular Cloud, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)

Pleiades and Taurus Molecular Cloud

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Description

In the zodiacal constellation Taurus (the Bull), lies a spectacular field of dust and gas - Taurus Molecular Cloud, nearby starforming clouds. A young cluster of stars has recently been formed and can still be seen surrounded by dust reflecting its blue starlight - the Pleiades (or M45, Seven Sisters or Subaru), in the bottom right corner of the wide 15-degree field of view.

A quick image captured on December 2021 that turned out better than I anticipated. This region is a challenge to image from my location: Spring-Summer (especially Oct-Feb) are the rainy months in Southeastern Brazil, making clear nights a rare sight. The low altitude of the target from my 22S latitude (meridian transit ~30-40º) also emphasizes light-pollution effects, which further impacts signal-to-noise ratio. In any case, I was pleasantly surprised with my current result, given the very short integration of less than 1h. I look forward to shooting this region again in the future : )

Constructive criticism, comments and suggestions are more than welcome in the comments section! 

Date: 25 December 2021
Location: My Observatory, MG, Brazil. Rural Skies (Bortle 3, calculated SQM ~21.4)
Camera: Canon EOS 6D (mod) at ISO 1600
Optics: Samyang 135mm f/2, operated at f/2
Mount: Sky-Watcher HEQ5, tracking, guided
Exposure Detail: 21x120s. Total 42min = 0.7h

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Description: Starless annotated version

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Pleiades and Taurus Molecular Cloud, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)