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Astrophotography

SL 11 Dark Nebula
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SL 11 Dark Nebula

I rarely image dark nebulae but this one caught my eye. Dark nebulae are also known as absorption nebulae. They are so dense they obscure the visible wavelengths of light from objects behind them, such as background stars and emission or reflection nebulae. The lack of light is caused by interstellar dust located in the coldest, densest parts of molecular clouds. Clusters and large complexes of dark nebulae are associated with Giant Molecular Clouds. In my image of the Running Chicken Nebula (it was posted here https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230410.html ) there were Bok globules. These are also dark nebula on a smaller scale and isolated. Like other interstellar dust or material, things dark nebulae obscure are only visible using radio or infrared astronomy.

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