The Horsehead and Flame Nebulae in Orion

Copyright 2001 Hap Griffin

This is the famous "Horsehead" Nebula in Orion, extremely hard to see visually, but fairly easily captured in photos.  The Horsehead shape is a peculiarly shaped cloud of dust known as B33 which is obscuring the wispy red emission nebula in the background, IC 434.  Actually, IC 434 is part of a much larger complex of red glowing gas extending through much of the entire Orion constellation.  The "Flame" Nebula, NGC 2024, dominates the left side of the photo.  The bright star above it is Alnitak, the leftmost star in Orion's belt.  Below the Horsehead is the blue reflection nebula NGC 2023.

Note the satellite trail in the upper left corner.  The blue swirl at the bottom right is apparently a false camera artifact. 

 

Date/Location:    December 20, 2000     Griffin/Hunter Observatory    Bethune, SC
Instrument:    Meade f6.3 10" LX-200
Focal Ratio:    Approx. f4 (utilizing focal reducer in GEG)
Guiding:    Manual - Lumicon GEG
Conditions:    Visually clear, but with moderate high level water vapor
Weather:    COLD! (20 F), Light breeze
Film:    Kodak Elite Chrome 200
Exposure: 1 x 30 minutes
Filters:    None
Processing:    Finished in Photoshop 5 and BGSmooth (5,30 on original 2700dpi work image)

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