The amazing Chamaeleon Cloud Complex + Stars Over Bucks + LRGB

The amazing Chamaeleon Cloud Complex

Credit: Stars Over Bucks

Filters: Optolong LRGB filters

 

 

 

The amazing Chamaeleon Cloud Complex is one of the closest low-mass star-forming regions to Earth, located roughly 600 light-years away in the southern constellation Chamaeleon. This image includes the Thumbprint Nebula (top right), a dense dark nebula made primarily of cold molecular gas and interstellar dust that blocks background starlight and emission regions behind it.
The complex is composed largely of molecular hydrogen, dust grains, and traces of other molecules such as carbon monoxide that help astronomers map these cold clouds. Regions within the cloud are actively collapsing to form new stars, many of which are only a few million years old.
The Thumbprint Nebula itself spans several light-years across, while the broader Chamaeleon cloud system stretches over hundreds of light-years. This shot was captured with my remote telescope at KKRO observatory in South Africa @astrocapetown 

 

 

 

Telescope: Askar FRA400 f/3.9
Camera: Zwo ASI 2600MM Pro
Exposure: 10 x 6min RGB, 110 x 6min L
Mount: Zwo AM3
Guiding: ASI120mini, 30mm scope
Filter: Optolong LRGB
Software: NINA, DSS, Pixinsight

Hope you like it.