Astrophotographer Captures Shadow Nebula LDN 1245 Resembling Cosmic Giraffe in Cassiopeia
A shadowy cosmic giraffe emerges from the depths of space in a newly released astrophotography image of LDN 1245, a dark nebula located in the constellation Cassiopeia.
The image, captured by astrophotographer Greg Meyer, reveals the nebula’s elongated dark filaments through a 25-hour exposure using a Sky Watcher Esprit 120mm telescope and ZWO ASI533MC Pro camera.
Meyer’s imaging process spanned from October 2025 to January 2026, with post-processing conducted using PixInsight, Photoshop, and Lightroom.
The resulting composition highlights faint reflection nebulosity along the nebula’s edges, which Meyer described as "giving a gentle blue tone" in a post on Astrobin. This subtle glow contrasts with the dense, starlight-absorbing core of the dark nebula.
Along the edges the scene shifts into faint reflection nebulosity... gives a gentle blue tone
Dark nebulas like LDN 1245 are characterized by their ability to absorb background starlight, creating silhouettes against the Milky Way. The "giraffe" analogy, while popular among the astrophotography community, is not a formal scientific classification.
The image was captured at Starfront Observatory in Rockwood, Texas, using RGB filters to enhance color differentiation between the nebula’s dark structures and surrounding nebulosity.
