The Flame Nebula: The Horsehead's Neighbor
Sat Oct 24 2026
I was very fortunate to have a nice run of clear nights over the past week to image this. I’ve wanted to do a closeup of the Flame Nebula since I started this hobby and the C8 is the perfect scope to do it with for me.
About this object
- Type
- Reflection Nebula
- Constellation
- Orion (the Hunter)
- Apparent size
- 8.0′ × 5.0′
- Catalogue designations
- IC 431
IC 431 is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion (the Hunter). It spans roughly 8.0′ × 5.0′ on the sky.
Acquisition
- Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm: 181 × 3m (9h 3m)
- Antlia V-Pro Red 36 mm: 360 × 30s (3h 0m)
- Antlia V-Pro Green 36 mm: 360 × 30s (3h 0m)
- Antlia V-Pro Blue 36 mm: 360 × 30s (3h 0m)
- Total integration: 18h 3m
Equipment
- Telescope / Lens: Celestron C8
- Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
- Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6
- Filters: Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm, Antlia V-Pro Blue 36 mm, Antlia V-Pro Green 36 mm, Antlia V-Pro Red 36 mm
- Guiding scope: SVBony SV106 60mm Guide Scope
- Guiding camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini
- Accessories: Celestron 0.63X SCT Reducer (94175), ZWO EFW 7 x 36mm
- Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
Astrophotography by David Joyce, AstroDavido.