Captured using the QHY11/Takahashi Epsilon ED-180, February 19th, this is 10 x 480 second sub exposures in H-Alpha, 7 x 120 second each LRGB for a total exposure/integration time of 2.2 Hours
Part of the Orion Molecular Cloud, an immense star forming region very close to earth, The Flame and Horsehead Nebulas offer a glimpse into the process from which stars and their planets are created. The colorfully lit areas are being irradiated by the young stars which have formed in the recent past and as a result, the ionized hydrogen in the clouds glows. The dark regions, on the other hand, are areas of dusty material in the interstellar medium dense enough to obscure the glow from behind. The Horsehead is such an object and from our vantage point on Earth, it bears a striking resemblance to the head of a horse.
The bright blue star just above The Flame Nebula is the easternmost star in Orion's belt, Alnitak, also known as Zeta Orionis. It is a "blue super-giant" and the brightest such star in the night sky.
Although it appears as a single object it is actually a triple-star (three stars in orbit around each other).
Zeta Orionis is responsible for the glow of the Flame Nebula; it glows so intensely in the ultra-violet range that even at a distance of a hundred light-years, the hydrogen in the cloud becomes ionized like neon in a sign. This radiation is also speeding the development of new stars as the pressure from the radiation further compresses the material. When the density of the material becomes great enough, gravity takes over and collapses the gas into a single object where temperature and pressure increase so dramatically that hydrogen atoms are fused into helium and a new star is born.
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