M42 - The Orion Nebula in HaRGB
Fri Mar 01 2024
I wasn’t sure the weather this year was going to work out for me to be able to capture enough data for this, but it worked out ok. I was hoping to pick up more data in total but that will have to wait until next year. I decided to blow out the core to show more of the surrounding dust and gas. One of these years, I’ll get around to doing this with shorter sub-exposure lengths in the RGB channels to highlight the details of the inner core and show the trapezium. Something to look forward to I suppose!
About this object
- Type
- Star Cluster with Nebulosity
- Constellation
- Orion (the Hunter)
- Distance
- ~1,344 light-years
- Apparent magnitude
- 4
- Apparent size
- 90.0′ × 60.0′
- Also known as
- Great Orion Nebula
- Catalogue designations
- M 42, NGC 1976
The Orion Nebula (M42) is the brightest diffuse nebula in the sky and one of the most photographed objects in astronomy. It is a vast stellar nursery where new stars are actively forming, visible to the naked eye as the fuzzy middle 'star' in Orion's sword.
Acquisition
- Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm: 79 × 3m (3h 57m)
- Antlia V-Pro Red 36 mm: 300 × 30s (2h 30m)
- Antlia V-Pro Green 36 mm: 184 × 30s (1h 32m)
- Antlia V-Pro Blue 36 mm: 242 × 30s (2h 1m)
- Total integration: 10h 0m
Equipment
- Telescope / Lens: Astro-Tech AT72EDII
- Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
- Mount: Celestron Advanced VX
- 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: ZWO 30mm Mini Guider Scope
- Guiding camera: ZWO ASI224MC
- Accessories: Astro-Tech .8X Reducer for F6 (ATR8), ZWO EFW 7 x 36mm
- Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
Astrophotography by David Joyce, AstroDavido.