Wings of Dust: The Cosmic Bat – LDN 43

Soaring silently across the Serpens constellation, LDN 43 stretches its cosmic wings against a canvas of starlight. This dark nebula is composed of thick interstellar dust that obscures the background stars, creating the silhouette of what resembles a celestial bat in flight.

But this bat isn’t just made of shadow - within its dark folds, new stars are being born. LDN 43 is part of a complex region of star formation, where gravity pulls dense dust clouds together until nuclear fusion ignites. The surrounding golden and blue hues come from background stars peeking through less-dense patches of dust, subtly illuminating the edges of this celestial phantom.

Explore the high-res version:
https://app.astrobin.com/?i=0629ha

Follow my journey through the dark and dusty corners of our galaxy:
https://linktr.ee/deepskyjourney

Acquisition & Processing:

• Luminance: 32×300″ (2h 40′)
• Red: 31×300″ (2h 35′)
• Green: 30×300″ (2h 30′)
• Blue: 33×300″ (2h 45′)

Image captured under varying moon phases, with transparency ranging from 21% to 76%. Processing focused on preserving the soft gradations of dust while gently enhancing color and contrast.

Total Integration: 10h 30′ in LRGB from Telescope.Live (credit).
Copyright: Rod Prazeres Astrophotography