This image was taken in the chilly winter of 2023 with my one shot colour on OSC camera, and I won't tell you a word of a lie when I say that when I started to process this deep sky object, my mind was blown. This was the second time I had actually taken an image of this object.
The Orion nebula is probably one of the most photographed deep sky objects. Many beginners and experts alike take images of it, and it is safe to say nobody will ever tire of taking images of this amazing nebulae in our night sky.
I have seen some stunning wide-field versions of this object: you can check some out on the Picastro app.
My field of view in my camera and telescope are very tight, and this only allows me to take a very tight close-up version of this stunning collection of dust and gas.
The Orion nebula is around 1500 light years from us but is absolutely vast. It is around 24 light years across, but because it is so far away, its apparent diameter is about a degree in our night skies, which is about twice the apparent diameter of the Moon.
Below, I have shown some close up views of my image of this nebula, highlighting some fantastic little details and features of this nebula, including a bow shock and some protoplyds or proto planetary discs. I was absolutely amazed that a backyard telescope could capture details like this from so far away! To the right of the topmost square, you can also see the trapezium core, which contains a total of 4 stars, two of which are double stars. This gives a total of 6 stars in the trapezium cluster.
Everyone with an interest in astronomy and astrophotography loves to take images of this object. It is so fascinating to image.
Here is the rig setup I used to take this image.
Telescope: Skywatcher 200P
Telescope Mount: HEQ5 Pro telescope mount
Camera: ZWO 533MCPro
Image details: 161 x 60 sec exposures, Gain 0, Bin 1x1
Software for processing: Pixinsight and Photoshop Camera Raw
Comments