Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Orion (Ori)  ·  Contains:  48 sig Ori  ·  50 zet Ori  ·  Alnitak  ·  B33  ·  Flame Nebula  ·  Horsehead nebula  ·  IC 431  ·  IC 432  ·  IC 434  ·  IC 435  ·  LBN 944  ·  LBN 946  ·  LBN 950  ·  LBN 953  ·  LBN 954  ·  LBN 958  ·  LBN 962  ·  LBN 965  ·  LDN 1635  ·  LDN 1636  ·  NGC 2023  ·  NGC 2024  ·  Orion B  ·  Sh2-277  ·  The star Alnitak (ζOri)  ·  The star σOri  ·  VdB51
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Horse & Flame HaLRGB, Graham Roberts
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Horse & Flame HaLRGB, Graham Roberts

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

The dark silhouette of the Horsehead Nebula against the surrounding rich HII-region, is one of astronomy’s most iconic images.  Surprising then that I’ve never imaged this object in broadband wavelengths before with my mono camera. Therefore, somewhat belatedly and with the benefit of unusually long spells of clear skies, this February I set out to rectify this omission from my astrophotography repertoire.

Whilst B33 the Horsehead Nebula gets most of the attention, this large HII-region contains many other exciting objects. Within the large molecular cloud, located just below and to the left of the Horsehead, is the emission and reflection nebula NGC 2023.  Discovered by William Herschel in 1785, at 10 x 10 arcminutes it is one of the largest reflection nebulas, illuminated at its centre by the Herbig Ae/Be star HD 37903 (a pre-main-sequence star).  Then, just to the left (north) of NGC 2023 is the dramatic NGC 2024 Flame Nebula, an emission nebula energised by the adjacent and very bright Alnitak star and a cluster of young stars within.

Graham

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

The Horse & Flame HaLRGB, Graham Roberts