Horsehead and Flame Nebulas

[Bill Richards]

The very familiar Horsehead Nebula (aka Barnard 33) is ~1,375 light-years from Earth and is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of its resemblance to a horse's head. It's a small dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The super-bright star to the left of the Horsehead is Alnitak, the easternmost (left-most) star of Orion's Belt. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead's neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field.

To the left of the Horsehead Nebula and just below Alnitak is the Flame Nebula (aka NGC 2024). Alnitak radiates ultraviolet light into the Flame Nebula, stripping electrons away from the clouds of hydrogen gas that reside there. Most of the yellow glow is generated by the recombination of the electrons and ionized hydrogen atoms. Dark gas and dust lies in front of the bright part of the nebula, creating the dark network that appears in the center of the glowing gas.

This image is the result of 8 hours of exposure time taken over 2 nights in December 2021.

Equipment and Software:
Mount: iOption CEM40 w/iPolar
Telescope: SkyWatcher Esprit 100ED
Auto-Focuser: Pegasus FocusCube2
Imaging Camera: ASI2600MC-Pro
Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme dual band
Guide Camera: ASI290MM-Mini on OAG
Imaging Software: NINA
Guiding Software: PHD2
Image Processing Software: PixInsight

Exposure Details:
Bias: 50
Gain: 100
64 x 240s with L-eXtreme filter
113 x 120s without filter

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[Ben Egbert]

Another beauty

 

[Dan Moorehead]

Stunning

 

[JimFox]

Really love this one. I shot a similar composition with my DSLR a month ago, so it's really neat to see how much better an OSC is. The Flame Nebula especially really looks great.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Bill,

A very fine rendition of this famous region - love colors and detail. I would also say I enjoyed the extensive and detailed write-up almost as much as the wonderful image, very nicely done on both!

ML