It's been a while since I last posted an image, having been focusing on a bit of travel, some car restoration work, and preparing for a few chess tournaments. The weather in my neighbourhood has been cold, wet and fog-prone lately. Thankfully I still have some unfinished images to complete!
The Dark Doodad molecular cloud lies about 10 degrees south of the Milky Way central band and is one of my favourites due to its graceful arc, far-south remoteness, and cool name. The globular cluster NGC 4372 and pulsating blue/white variable star Gamma Muscae compliment it well. It's also a favourite because the Doodad is high in the sky during late-summer and early-autumn when conditions are very nice for imaging in the southern parts of Australia.
Having last imaged this about 4 years ago, my emphasis this time was to improve my luminance acquisition to tease out more dust and take a different approach to the processing. Being close to the Milky Way galactic plane this region is awash with background stars .... too many to fully appreciate the beauty of the nebula. I've attempted to thin these stars out to better expose the long molecular cloud, along with the colourful globular cluster NGC 4372. Glad to have teased out some more details than in my previous attempt back in
2019.
Thanks for looking and Clear Skies!
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