Telescope: Meade SN6 Comet Tracker at f/3.6, Orion Atlas EQ-G
Camera: Full Spectrum Modified Nikon D5300, Baader Mk III MPCC
Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter
Guide scope: Orion 50mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini
Exposure: 36x60sec, ISO 200, saved as RAW
Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction On)
Flats: 32×1/10sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk
Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, poor transparency, bright moonlight
Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 17.7 mag/arc-sec^2
Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.
White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic
Software: Backyard Nikon, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop
This is a very busy region of the sky near Alnitak, the eastern star in the belt of Orion. Alnitak is the brilliant star at the top of this field. NGC 2024 (the Flame Nebula) is to the left and the beautiful red emission nebula IC 434 drapes down the center of the field with the iconic Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) silhouetted against it. To the left are the reflection nebula NGC 2023 and the tiny IC 435. To the lower right is Sigma Orionis, a wonderful complex of stars that is a fine target for binoculars and small telescopes. In larger scopes it resolves into a wonderful group of double and triple stars.
This was another ‘just for the heck of it’ image taken under very poor conditions just to see what I could see. I was particularly interested in whether I would see a Schmidt Ghost (a reflection off of the Schmidt corrector) from Alnitak. As it turns out there was a small reflection that was easy to clone out, but there are a couple of faint blue arcs on the right side of this field from Alnitak and Alnilam, the middle star in Orion’s Belt. This bodes well for trying this again using a narrowband filter. As it is I love how soft and subtle the nebula turned out in this image.
Recent Comments