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Orion's belt consists of 3
stars "in a row" -- Alnitak,
Alnilam, and Mintaka,
instantly visible to anyone
looking up at a clear
winter sky in the northern
hemisphere. Hanging
down from Orion's belt is
his sword, which seems
to consist of a few "fuzzy"
stars. Some of those
areas of "fuzziness" that
are poorly resolved by
the unaided human eye
are superbly resolved by
even a modest backyard
telescope, showing
brilliant nebulosity from
M42, the Great Nebula in
Orion. However, a long
exposure digital image
also reveals subtle colors
and textures in M42, as
well as revealing the
much dimmer nebula
complex of NGC 1977,
aka the Running Man
Nebula.
stars "in a row" -- Alnitak,
Alnilam, and Mintaka,
instantly visible to anyone
looking up at a clear
winter sky in the northern
hemisphere. Hanging
down from Orion's belt is
his sword, which seems
to consist of a few "fuzzy"
stars. Some of those
areas of "fuzziness" that
are poorly resolved by
the unaided human eye
are superbly resolved by
even a modest backyard
telescope, showing
brilliant nebulosity from
M42, the Great Nebula in
Orion. However, a long
exposure digital image
also reveals subtle colors
and textures in M42, as
well as revealing the
much dimmer nebula
complex of NGC 1977,
aka the Running Man
Nebula.
Takahashi FSQ106
SBIG STL11K
Astrodon I Series RGB
filters plus Astrodon
6nm Ha
RGB:
R = 20 min x 14
G = 20 min x 14
B = 20 min x 15
The M42/43 part of the
image was then layered
with HaRGB data from
my prior Orion image,
and the resulting image
was further layered with
older RGB data of the
area surrounding the
trapezium (taken with
my 10" RC)
Processed with CCDsoft,
Registar, Neat Image,
and Adobe PS.
SBIG STL11K
Astrodon I Series RGB
filters plus Astrodon
6nm Ha
RGB:
R = 20 min x 14
G = 20 min x 14
B = 20 min x 15
The M42/43 part of the
image was then layered
with HaRGB data from
my prior Orion image,
and the resulting image
was further layered with
older RGB data of the
area surrounding the
trapezium (taken with
my 10" RC)
Processed with CCDsoft,
Registar, Neat Image,
and Adobe PS.
Orion's Sword Region -- NGC 1973/75/77, M42/43
Click on image to enlarge
Click on image to enlarge
