The Cosmic Bat

This dark nebula, LND 43, also referred to as the Cosmic Bat Nebula, is located in the constellation of Ophiuchus, approx. 1400 light years from Earth. This molecular cloud is obscuring a larger bright nebula behind it, LBN 7. LBN 7 is the illuminated dust surrounding the dark nebula. The small galaxy seen below LDN 43, just to the left of a bright orange star, is LEDA 3868080. This galaxy is located 400 million light years away. It is slightly larger than our Milky Way, at about 130,000 light years in diameter. This background galaxy is 400,000 times further away than the foreground nebula.

This image is from an Advanced Request using AUS-1 Takahashi FSQ-106 Telescope, and capturing 20 x 300s of each LRGB, a total of approx 6.5 hours. I am always torn between starry and starless images but tend towards seeing the stars as this seems the more natural option. I have, however, also included a starless version as I think this shows a better view of the dark nebula.