Wallpaper author:
Johan Potgieter
13 Jul 2025
The Cosmic Bat Nebula
High in the constellation Ophiuchus, about 1,400 light-years away, lies a shadowy silhouette that seems to stretch its wings across the stars — the Cosmic Bat Nebula, also known as LDN 43 (Lynds Dark Nebula 43).
This eerie, bat-shaped dark nebula isn’t glowing — it’s actually a dense cloud of gas and dust that blocks the starlight behind it. Hidden within are young, forming stars, some of which are beginning to light up the surrounding gas, shaping the nebula’s haunting appearance.
Dataset from which the image was processed
LDN 43
9 credit
- Type of target............................................................................................................................Dark Nebula
- Camera............................................................................................................................QHY 600M
- Target coordinates............................................................................................................................RA 248.6221 Dec -15.7864
- Hemisphere............................................................................................................................Southern
- Telescope location............................................................................................................................Chile
- Transient event............................................................................................................................No
- Observed on............................................................................................................................24 Feb 2025 - 29 Mar 2025
Filter | Avg Exp (s) | Total Exposure | Subframes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luminance | 300 | 3h25m | 41 |
| Red | 293 | 3h20m | 41 |
| Green | 293 | 3h15m | 40 |
| Blue | 315 | 3h30m | 40 |