SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Pierluigi Carotti
Location of Photo:
Venice, Italy
Date/Time of photo:
September, October 2025: 4 nights ending on 2025-10-02
Equipment:
ZWO ASI585MC + Takahashi FSQ 106EDX4 530mm f/5, iOptron ZEQ25GT
Description:
LDN 1355 ("The Helping Hand Nebula"). The new challenge was to attempt to photograph this "Cosmic Hand Nebula" in the usual prohibitive condition of the sky transparency, plagued by Bortle 7~8. Over 20 hours of exposure with multi-narrowband filter. The result surprised me: from comparisons with the usual images of the "Helping Hand", it's almost as if the near-infrared filter "detects" dust, which normally obscures many areas of such nebula. In fact, only the thenar eminence and distal phalanges of the "hand" appear dark.
Website:
https://www.astrobin.com/users/gigiastro/?public=&sub=uploaded
