Horsehead and Flame Nebulae in Orion
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CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW (2800x2100) Scope: FSQ-106N at f/5, Location: DAA Observatory, Shelter Valley, CA 12 January and 3 February 2018, Camera: Atik 383L (Astronomik Gen 2 Ha LRGB Filters) Exposure:
Exposure: 20 x 10 min (1x1 bin) exposure with UV/IR block, 14 x 12 minutes
(1x1 bin) exposure with Hydrogen Alpha filter, 8 x 4 min (2x2 bin) RGB
exposures.
Processing: Data
Collection - Sequence Generator Pro (as FITs). Calibrated, stacked
(Kappa Sigma Combine) - Deep Sky Stacker. LRGB channel registration,
equalization and gradient removal - Astroart. Curves, Levels, RGB
combine - ImagesPlus. Luminance Layering, final stretch, and finishing -
Photoshop. RGB calibration - eXcalibrator. This image is a RGB combine
with Luminance layering. Color saturation in LAB color. The H-Alpha
filter exposure was screen blended into the IR/UV Blocking filter exposure stack
and used for the
luminance layer. Ha was screen blended into the Red channel - emission
balance of RGB done with Channel Mixer in Photoshop as best as possible given
the bright star blue gradient. Images processed at 3352 x 2532 resolution. Final Image size is approximately
2800 x 2100. North is to the
left in this image. This
field is the iconic Horsehead / Flame Region in Orion. The Horsehead Nebula
(Barnard 33) is silhouetted by the emission nebula IC 434. The Flame Nebula (LBN
953) is involved with the star cluster NGC 2024. This region is part of the Ori
B Molecular cloud star forming region which spans about 360 arc
minutes of sky (about three times the field of this image). This whole field of
emission area is also known as Sharpless 277. There are several reflection
nebulae in this field - notable are IC 431, IC 435, NGC 2023, and [RK68] 37.
Besides the Horsehead nebula (B33) there are several other Dark Nebulae
and clouds in this field. Also, the Sigma Orionus Open Cluster - a young
star cluster of 12.8 million years - is in this field. This cluster is not in
traditional astronomical catalogs but has been the subject of some study in the
past few decades. These objects and some
of the brighter stars are identified in the annotated
image. This image replaces an earlier image in the Archives
here Horizontal FOV is approximately 120 arc minutes. Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 05h 41m 02s Dec: -02°18'19"
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