Surface Brightness Measurements of Extended Galactic Nebulae

We discuss the importance of digitised sky-limited Schmidt B- and R-band, and Hα images of extended translucent (A_B ≃ 1-5 mag) and dark (A_B > 5 mag) clouds. In translucent clouds (e.g. high-latitude cirrus) photons can penetrate through the whole cloud and control the physical and chemical processes. Comparison of the B images with far-infrared/submillimetre CO, CI, and CII emission provides important information on the non-homogeneous cloud structure, carbon chemistry and energy balance. In dark clouds the interior is completely shielded from the interstellar radiation field. L1204 is a dark cloud with at its edge the well-known HII rim S140. The R-band image shows S140 as well as the diffuse extended HII region around the exciting B-type star. However, the sensitivity for Hα in the R-band is rather low and there is contamination with diffusely scattered red light from dust. Deep Hα and R-band imaging of an ∼20'×20' field has recently been done with the 1 m Hoher List telescope of Bonn University. A wealth of small-scale structures can been seen on continuum-subtracted images which provide new insight on the geometry of this cloud.