Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Orion (Ori)  ·  Contains:  Extremely wide field
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The Barnard's Loop and Orion's Belt, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)
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The Barnard's Loop and Orion's Belt

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The Barnard's Loop and Orion's Belt, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)
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The Barnard's Loop and Orion's Belt

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Description

In a field of nebulosity from Orion Molecular Cloud, some 1500 ly away, lies the Orion's Nebula (M42) and the Horshead Nebula (IC434), in the central "Belt-and-Sword" region. Towards the upper right, near Rigel, the Witch's Head and Bat Nebulae complete the field. Fainter reflection and dark nebulae are present in the field. Finally, H-alpha emission encircles the Hunter, a nebula known as the Barnard's Loop.

The discovery of the Barnard's Loop is interesting. In his 1894's "The Photographic Nebula of Orion, Encircling the Belt and Theta Nebula" [1], the great astronomer and pioneering astrophotographer E. E. Barnard writes: "I have recently been experimenting with a small short-focus lens. [...] The most interesting, however, of these lantern lens pictures are two of the constellation of Orion [...] The pictures showed an enormous curved nebulosity encircling the belt and the great nebula, and covering a large portion of the body of the giant. " [1]

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Photographing the great Orion constellation is a challenge for us Brazilians - our summer (Dec - Mar) is the wet, cloudy and rainy season in most of Brazil. Clear dark nights are rare! This image was shot late into the season, in April, as Orion was already far past the meridian, due West, right after sunset. The maximum altiude of this target during this capture was 40 degrees. To make matters worse, my western horizon is light polluted due to a nearby city centre. Nonetheless, I captured this relatively quick snapshot using very simple gear - a tracking mount and 135mm lens. I had some expected light pollution gradients, but the end result was a pleasant surprise - my rendition of Orion in early 2021!

Constructive criticism, comments and suggestions are more than welcome in the comments section!

Date: 12 April 2021

Location: My Observatory, MG, Brazil. Rural Skies (Bortle 3, calculated SQM ~21.6)

Camera: Canon EOS 6D (mod) at ISO 1600

Optics: Samyang 135mm f/2.0, operated at f/2.4

Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer, tracking.

Exposure Detail: 40x120s. Total integration 80min or 1.3h.

[1] E. E. Barnard, "The Great Photographic Nebula of Orion, Encircling the Belt and Theta Nebula". Popular Astronomy, Vol. 2, pp.151-154, 1894.

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Description: Vertical orientation (North up)

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The Barnard's Loop and Orion's Belt, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)