Instrument

Takahashi FSQ-106ED @ f/5.0 (530 mm F.L.)  Captured at 3.5 arcsec/pixel.  Shown resampled to 11.9 arcsec/pixel.

Mount

Paramount ME

Camera

SBIG STL-11000 w/ internal filter wheel, AstroDon Filters

Acquisition Data

1/11/2009 to 1/13/2009 Chino Valley... with CCDAutoPilot3

Exposure

Ha    15 min. (15 x 1 min. bin 1x1,  6 nm filter)
Ha    75 min. (15 x 5 min. bin 1x1,  6 nm filter)
Ha  225 min. (15 x 15 min. bin 1x1, 6 nm filter)

Click here for the natural colored image.
Click here for the narrow band color mapped version.

Software

CCDSoft, CCDStack, Photoshop CS w/ the Fits Liberator plugin and Noel Carboni's actions.

CCDStack to calibrate, register, normalize, data reject & combine sub exposures.

PhotoShop for non-linear stretching.

Comment

North is to the top.

This image, captured with a hydrogen-alpha filter, shows the extent of the hydrogen gas.

The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated south of Orion's Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye. M42 is located at a distance of 1,270±76 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across.

Source: Wikipedia