SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Hal Heaton
Location of Photo:
Chilescope (Tel 3)
Date/Time of photo:
2026 March 22 and April 21, 22
Equipment:
Telescope: ASA 500 (field-corrected Newtonian, f/3.86); Camera: FLI Proline 16803 (front-illuminated CCD with anti-blooming protection, unbinned, guided, 300-sec exposures); Filters: Astrodon (RGB, 50mm square); Mount: ASA DDM85 (equatorial)
Description:
To faint to be seen by unaided human eyes, the Cosmic Bat Nebula gazes silently at the world below as evening twilight fades during short summer nights in the Northern Hemisphere. Its perch just above the central bulge of the Milky Way is located only a few degrees from the picturesque Ophiuchus Molecular Cloud, but the two lie at vastly different distances. LDN 43 is a dark nebula transitioning into an active star forming region. The brightness near its center is caused by RNO 90, a young T Tauri star with a protoplanetary disk and molecular outflows (also designated V1003 Oph). A second T Tauri star, RNO 91, illuminates a smaller cometary reflection nebula nearby. Oriented with north down and east to the right, the star HD 149013 appears at the left center; HD 149434 along the top edge.
