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Stellar Shot of the Week

SVX130T - Barnard 30 & 31

April 14, 2026 - Mark Savan
SVX130T - Barnard 30 & 31 - Mark Savan
SVX130T - Barnard 30 & 31 - Mark Savan

Mark Savan caught this brilliant shot of Barnard 30 & 31 in Orion with his SVX130T. Barnard 30, a dark nebula, is home to many young stars, as well as a massive star named Meissa, responsible for triggering star formation in this nebula. This object rests approximately 1,300 light-years away from Earth and has a rough diameter of 2.6 light-years. Barnard 31, also a dark nebula, is characterized by its dark appearance, which is the result of a high concentration of dust and molecular gas, absorbing visible light from the stars around it.


Other Designations:
LDN 1577, LDN 1580, LDN 1581, LDN 1582, LDN 1583, LDN 1584, B30, B31, B32.


Details:

Telescope: Stellarvue SVX130T-3SV

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro

Mount: iOptron CEM70G

Filters:

  • Chroma Blue 36 mm
  • Chroma Green 36 mm
  • Chroma H-alpha 3nm Bandpass 36 mm
  • Chroma Lum 36 mm
  • Chroma Red 36 mm
Software:

  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Aries Productions Astro Pixel Processor (APP)
  • Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
  • Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator
  • Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator
  • Russell Croman Astrophotography StarXTerminator
  • SetiAstro Automatic DBE
  • SetiAstro Find Background
  • SetiAstro Star Stretch v2.1
  • SetiAstro Statistical Stretch
  • Stefan Berg Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A. / NINA)

References:

Wikipedia contributors. (2025, January 8). Barnard 30. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard_30

B 30 & 31 - AstroBin. (n.d.). AstroBin. https://ssr.app.astrobin.com/u/astrosavy?i=8cjefv

Ford, D. (n.d.). In-The-Sky.org. In-The-Sky.org. https://in-the-sky.org/data/object.php?id=Barnard_30

Barnard 31. (n.d.). space.fandom.com. https://space.fandom.com/wiki/Barnard_31

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