More than astrophotography, an astronomical exploration.
Barnard 213
David Cruz · Astromidnight
In Taurus, a band of cold dust crosses the whole field and blots out the stars behind it. It is one of the nearest star-forming filaments to us, with the double star φ Tauri shining at its centre.
| Catalogue | Barnard catalogue (1927) · B213 |
| Type | Dark nebula |
| Distance | ≈ 450 light-years (region) |
| Field | 81.8′ × 55.2′ |
| Scale | 0.81″ / pixel |
| Orientation | −2° · north up |
| RA (centre) | 04h 20m 22s |
| DEC (centre) | +27° 16′ 18″ |
| Constellation | Taurus |
| Objects in field | B213 · LDN 1495 · FS Tau · 3 galaxies |
Distance of the Taurus cloud according to ESA (≈ 450 light-years); the Gaia parallax of the young stars in LDN 1495 gives about 424 light-years (Galli et al. 2019). There is no published distance for B213 alone. No real width: the field combines the cloud, nearer stars and galaxies hundreds of millions of light-years away. Galaxy distances calculated from redshift (SIMBAD), with H0 = 70 km/s/Mpc. Nebula positions taken from AstroBin labels or SIMBAD, so they are approximate.
14 h 40 min of light
Each tick is a 240-second exposure. 220 in total, with the camera at −10 °C and gain 100. Calibrated with 30 darks, 30 flats and 30 bias. The Moon stayed below 40 % illumination throughout.
Carbon Newton 10' f/4
ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Twinstar Friction Mount FG80
Askar M54 OAG · ZWO ASI120MM Mini
TS-Optics Maxfield .95X Coma Corrector
Adobe Photoshop · Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · Stefan Berg Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A. / NINA)
São Pedro da Gafanhoeira, Évora · 358 m
Bortle 3