HD 326006 and vDBH 73

Constellation: Scorpius

vDBH 73 is a reflection nebula around the star HD 326006 in the constellation of Scorpius. It is part of a massive, opaque cosmic cloud cataloged as GN 16.43.7.0 and known as the Dark Tower nebula. It is located about 5’000 Ly away and is about 40 Ly across. This object contains several dark nebulae such as DOBASHI 6811 and 6808 and the molecular cloud MSX6C G343.0500+02.6094.  Intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation from a nearby cluster of massive, hot young stars (NGC 6231) continuously erodes and compresses the cloud. Link to interactive sky chart.

Closer view of vDBH 73.

Telescope & Mount:

Planewave CDK14 on a Paramount MX mount.

Imaging:

Camera: Player One Zeus-Mono (bin 2×2)

Data:
Ha: 47x900s
S2: 89x900s

Stars:
Lum: 71x120s
Red: 90x120s
Green: 78x120s
Blue: 88x120s

Total integration time: 44h 54′