The Orion Nebula

M42       NGC1976

The Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula situated below the belt of Orion.  It's one of the brightest nebulae and
is visible to the naked eye.  It's about 1300 light years away and about 24 light years across.  It's one of the most photographed objects in the night sky.
Stars and planets are forming from collapsed clouds of gas and dust.  M42 is just part of a larger cloud called the
Orion Molecular Cloud Complex  which includes Barnard's Loop, the Horsehead Nebula, M43, M78 and the Flame Nebula.
At the center of the Nebula is a cluster of very young energetic stars called the Trapezium.
Telescopically, M42 is one of the finest sights in the heavens.

The various images below were taken with various telescope/camera combinations
giving one an appreciation of differences in scope f ratio and CCD chip size
resulting in different image scales.

IMAGE DETAILS:

Telescope:  Takahashi Epsilon 180ED
Mount:   Losmandy G11 w/ Astrometric Skywalker GOTO
Camera:  Starlight Xpress SXV-H9C
Total Exposure Time:  10 minutes



IMAGE DETAILS:

Telescope:  Takahashi Epsilon 180ED
Mount:   Losmandy G11 w/ Astrometric Skywalker GOTO
Camera:  Canon EOS20D DSLR (cropped)
Total Exposure Time:  60 minutes
Created from 3 various length images using Layer Masks in Photoshop (both images)
This brings in all level of detail and levels it out so you can see details in the normally
bright core (the Trapezium area) all the way out to the wispy outer details.




IMAGE DETAILS:

Telescope:  10" f/4.5 Newtonian Reflector
Mount:   Losmandy G11 w/ Astrometric Skywalker GOTO
Camera:  Starlight Xpress SXV-H9C (cropped)
Total Exposure Time:  5 minutes
This image shows  the Trapezium  cluster in the center surrounded by
colourful  wisps and dark clouds.  This was a series of 10 and 2 second exposures
totalling 5 minutes.







IMAGE DETAILS:

Telescope:  80mm f/5 Skywatcher ED Refractor
Mount:   Losmandy G11 w/ Astrometric Skywalker GOTO
Camera:  Starlight Xpress SXV-H9C
Total Exposure Time:  20 minutes






IMAGE DETAILS

Telescope:  Takahashi FSQ w/Reducer
Mount:  Paramount ME
Camera:  SBIG STL11000M
Hydrogen Alpha Image:  90 minutes
Hydrogen Alpha




IMAGE DETAILS

Telescope:  Takahashi FSQ w/Reducer
Mount:  Paramount ME
Camera:  SBIG STL11000M
HaRGB:  90:60:60:60



IMAGE DETAILS

Telescope:  Takahashi FSQ w/Reducer
Mount:  Paramount ME
Camera:  SBIG STL11000M
HaRGB:  90:60:60:60




IMAGE DETAILS

Telescope:  Takahashi FSQ w/Reducer
Mount:  Paramount ME
Camera:  SBIG STL11000M
HaRGB:  90:60:60:60