Orion Nebula (M 42, M 43, NGC 1977)

clic for 60% size 2023 x 1431 (440 kB)

 

About this Image

First light for the Keller 16" cassegrain!
Located at a distance of about 1,600 light years, the Orion Nebula (M 42) is the brightest diffuse nebula in the sky, visible to the naked eye.
The 4 hot Trapezium stars in the center of M 42 energize the wide area around them.
The origin of the rich colors are from the H-alpha, H-beta and O-III emissions. North is left.
To the left the blue emission Nebula NGC 1977 is visible, also named Running Man Nebula.

 


Technical Details
Optics

16" cassegrain in primary focus at f/3

Mount MK-100 GEM
Camera SBIG STL-11000M at -30C, internal filter wheel
Filters Astronomik LRGB
Date Dec 29, 2004.
Location Wildon/Austria
Sky Conditions mag 5 sky, ltemperature -5 C
Exposure center area: R:G:B = 10:10:10 sec (10 sec sub-exposures),
outer area: R:G:B = 5:5:5 minutes (5-minute sub-exposures),
Processing Image aquisition in Maxim, image calibration, aligning, DDP in ImagesPlus;
The short exposures were used to establish the inner section, the other for the rest of the image; color balance, curves, unsharp mask in Photoshop;
north is up;