Australian Sky & Telescope — July 2017

Winter is the seasonof rugging up to observe the central

regionsoftheMilkyWay,whenthetemptationisto

stay warm in bed. Sometimes the most fun can be had

inchasingdownoldfavouritesbestviewedinthecold

months:thatbrilliantlineofstarsintheLagoonNebula

(M8)orthespangledshotofthePtolemyCluster(M7).

Butatothertimeswe’reinthemoodforsomethingelse,

so we begin looking beyond Sagittarius and Scorpius for

somenewchallenges.OnesuchchallengeisLupus,which

rideshighoverheadduringwinterevenings.Outofrange

inthesummerandshoulderseasons,theWolfoffers

threegoodoptions—alldarknebulae—toaddtoourlist

of winter favourites.

Dark,orabsorption,nebulaeareirregularstretchesof

dustandgassodensethattheyblockorscatteropticallight,

creatingtheappearanceofdarkvoidsintheeyepiece.These

peculiarcloudscanbeobservedyearroundwith

Stay up late to track down these

absorption nebulae in Lupus.

XRIDGE OF DARKNESSDeep sky images reveal the condensations

of gas and dust in the darkest regions of the Lupus 1 Molecular Cloud.

This three-panel mosaic covers a roughly 6°× 31 / 3 °field of view.

LUPUS: SCOTT ROSEN, DRAWING: JOHANNES HEVELIUS

52 AUSTRALIAN SKY & TELESCOPE July 2017

Dark Wolf

The

of

Winter

DARK NEBULAE by Richard P. Wilds