The Orion Nebula!
My favorite target in the night sky!
2.5 hours, 38 x 4 minute exposures.
This is the last photo I’ll take with my old rig before I sell my old mount and start learning my new mount and telescope
The Orion Nebula, also known as Messier 42 or M42, is a diffuse nebula located in the constellation Orion, approximately 1,344 light-years away from Earth. It is one of the most well-known and easily observed astronomical objects in the night sky. The Orion Nebula is a massive stellar nursery, a region where new stars are forming from vast clouds of gas and dust.
The Orion Nebula glows due to a process known as fluorescence. The nebula is primarily composed of hydrogen, along with trace amounts of helium and other heavier elements. At the heart of the nebula lies a cluster of hot, young stars called the Trapezium. These stars emit intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas, stripping away electrons from the hydrogen atoms.
As the electrons recombine with the hydrogen ions, they release energy in the form of photons, causing the gas to emit light. This process is known as recombination, and it results in the characteristic reddish glow of the Orion Nebula, which is predominantly due to hydrogen-alpha emission.
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