van den Bergh (vdB141) in Cepheus

Camera: Starlight Xpress SXVF-H16 with FLI CFW-2-7 Filter Wheel

Mount: Losmandy G-11/Gemini

Scope: Astro-Physics Starfire AP130 EDF

Colors: L:R:G:B

Exposure Time: Over 14 hrs

Post-Production: MaxIm DL, CCDStack, PixInsight, and Photoshop CS3

I was very unhappy with an earlier version of this object, so I decided to try again at processing the data. This one turned out much better. The original was captured from Vermillion Cliffs Observatory in Kanab, Utah. Although the nebula itself is fairly bright, the dust that surrounds the area is extremely dim and challenging to capture with my AP130 at F/6. I imaged nearly all night for two nights to capture this image. I especially like the "ghosts" that appear to rise up with raised arms. I hope you like this ghostly apparition in the sky. Description from APOD Spooky shapes seem to haunt this starry expanse, drifting through the night in the royal constellation Cepheus. Of course, the shapes are cosmic dust clouds faintly visible in dimly reflected starlight. Far from your own neighborhood on planet Earth, they lurk at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex some 1,200 light-years away. Over 2 light-years across and brighter than the other ghostly apparitions, the nebula known as vdB 141 or Sh2-136 near the center of the field is even seen in infrared light. Also cataloged as Bok globule CB230, the core of that cloud is collapsing and is likely a binary star system in the early stages of formation.

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