This is an image of the Great Orion Nebula. You may recall me posting an image before, but this is part of my new series integrating specific spectral lines (narrowband).
Image 1: Wide view of the Great Orion Nebula. Imaged at Lac Teeples in November 2022
Image 2: Orion Nebula medium sized crop. Imaged at Lac Teeples in November 2022.
Image 3: Orion Nebula closeup. Imaged at Lac Teeples in November 2022.
The Orion Nebula, also known as M42, (#42 on Mr. Messier’s list) is the closest star formation region to us, situated in the Milky Way 1340 light-years away. It is the sword of Orion, below the belt of three bright stars and is easily seen with the naked eye. It is part of a much greater region of nebulosity in Orion, but M42 is roughly 1 degree across.
Given how bright and prominent this object is, it is very frequently imaged by astrophotographers. The nebula involves a star formation region with very bright stars that are ionizing gases around them which produces emission (mainly Hydrogen-alpha red). The stars are also illuminating gas clouds containing dust and this reflects the starlight. Dark dust lanes are also visible, so we have a combination of an emission nebula, a reflection nebula and a dark nebula all in one.
The image is shown with three different crops, showing the overall picture and then more and more detail.
Due to the forest around Lac Teeples, the Orion Nebula is very hard to image. When visible it is blocked by the cottage and then moves in and out of the trees. To capture this image I pointed the telescope at a target that was not visible (before going to bed) and let the telescope track it. This was done several times, overnight. For a few nights nothing was observed due to cloud coming in. Most of the images showing the actual target were discarded due to distortion from trees or other problems. In other words this is at the limit of what I can observe in the South due to the forest.
This image was captured at Lac Teeples in November 2022. Telescope is RASA11, Cameras are ASI6200MM (narrowband H-Alpha and Oxygen-III) and ASI6200MC (RGB).
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