Probably the most popular deep sky nebula, the Orion Nebula (M42), is a wide HII region where hundreds of new stars are born. This stars nursery is located around 1300 light years from Earth and it’s estimated to be around 24 light years across.
Together with M42 we can see Sh2-279 also called “Running Man Nebula”. A fantastic deep sky object that shows a reflection and emission nebula, reminding us the shape of a running man.
The Orion Molecular clouds of dust and gas are visible surrounding both nebulae giving to the image a chocolate texture.
This image has been possible thanks to the dark skies of Prades where I have my observatory. During moonless February 2018 nights I acquired the broad band data that was blended with some Ha narrow band images. HDR techniques have been used with all the images.
Image Details
L: 20×30″ + 30×300″
RGB: 20×30″ + 20×18″ each channel
Hα: 20×30″ + 28×600″
50 darks, 50 bias, 30 flats
All images taken at 0Gain Bin1 -25ºC
Total exposure: 8h
Equipment
FSQ85ED telescope
Mesu200 mount
ASI 1600MM Pro camera with ZWO EFW 8 pos
Guiding with ASI174MC and ZWO OAG
Baader filters
Software
SGP, PHD2, APP, PIX.
Aleix Roig – Prades, Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). February 2018.