Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Orion (Ori)  ·  Contains:  Horsehead nebula  ·  IC 432  ·  IC 434  ·  IC 435  ·  NGC 2023  ·  NGC 2024  ·  The star Alnitak (ζOri)  ·  The star σOri
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B33 Horsehead and NGC2024 Flame Nebula (with lens flare), Gilbert Ikezaki
B33 Horsehead and NGC2024 Flame Nebula (with lens flare)
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B33 Horsehead and NGC2024 Flame Nebula (with lens flare)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
B33 Horsehead and NGC2024 Flame Nebula (with lens flare), Gilbert Ikezaki
B33 Horsehead and NGC2024 Flame Nebula (with lens flare)
Powered byPixInsight

B33 Horsehead and NGC2024 Flame Nebula (with lens flare)

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I had previously uploaded this photo as a revision, but it has a significant amount of lens flare from the star Alnitak. So I had marked the cropped version as "Final". However, I wondered if I had lost my integrity as an artist by giving into convention? After much thought, and after re-watching the J.J. Abrams directed version of Star Trek in an alternative universe, I decided that from my point of view astro-photography as it is now practiced is an art form. J.J. Abrams had used a great deal of lens flare in his 2009 production to give this newer film a feel reminiscent of older versions of Star Trek that were filmed with lenses that didn't have multi-coating. A movie is an art form used to communicated both thoughtful ideas as well as emotional feelings. Astro-photography is an art form that does just the same. I decided to re-submitted this version with flare as a separate photo.

HyperStar photos have a number of artifacts created by the large, irregular central obstruction of the camera in front of the lens. All optical systems create artifacts because none are "perfect". On the other hand this particular photo has very little post processing. So in many ways it is actually more "authentic" than many of my other photos that are made to appear more "realistic" after very heavy post processing. Anyway, no one sees the Horsehead nebula in full color directly through an optical telescope. All color photos of Horsehead are some what "artificial".

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B33 Horsehead and NGC2024 Flame Nebula (with lens flare), Gilbert Ikezaki

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