Object

M42 M43 / NGC1976 The Orion Nebula

Object Information

Image information

Object Type

Diffuse Emission Nebula

Instrument

Takahashi FS-60C 60mm Apochromatic Refractor FL=355mm F/5.9

Constellation

Orion

Guiding

SXV / LX200 14” @ F/3.3

Magnitude

4.0

Focal Reducer

None

Coordinates

RA 05:35.4 Dec -05:27

Mount

Paramount ME

Size

85x60 arc min

Location

Stoney Hills, S.E England

Distance

1600 Light Years

Acquisition Date

21th Jan 2007

Notes

The Orion Nebula is one of the brightest deep sky objects and can be easily seen with the naked eye. A huge cloud of gas it shines strongly in HII, OIII and infa-red frequencies due to being energised by the radiation from the hot, young stars within.

Containing the Trapezium Cluster, this region was imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995. Many of these young stars have been shown to have proplyds or protoplanetary disks.

The bright stars in this region were first noted by Ptolemy in AD130 and subsequently by Tycho Brahe and Galileo but strangely the actual nebula was not noted. The first recorded documentation was by Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc in 1610. Messier added it to his catalogue in 1769.

Capture Device

Starlight-Xpress SXV-H9 Sony ICX285AL Exview HAD Cooled CCD Array 1392 x 1040 @ 6.45uM / Pixel 

Filter Type

Astronomik Type IIc RGB + Ha (13nM)

Colour Technique

LRGB (ha,RGB)

FOV

≈65 x 87 arc mins (3.75 arcsec/pixel)

Exposure

51 m Total

Integration

Ha (18 x 90 sec bin 1x1)

R (16 x 30 sec bin 2x2)

G (16 x 30 sec bin 2x2)

B (16 x 30 sec bin 2x2)

Notes

This object has a very high dynamic range and it is difficult to show the outer ‘wisps’ without saturating the bright inner parts. Possibly combining different length exposures may be the way to go. Once again I’m please with performance of the little Tak refractor used on this shot.