A southern target


Kfir Simon, taken from Tivoli Farm, Namibia

RCW 85 is a faint emission nebula in the southern constellation of Centaurus. The designation “RCW” comes from a catalog of Hα emission regions published in 1960 by a trio of researchers working in Australia under the astronomer Bart Bok: Alexander Rodgers, Colin Campbell, and John Whiteoak. This SHORGB image was taken with at 24-inch scope and 5 hours of exposure, 3 hours of which was in Hα.