The Orion Nebula, aka Messier 42, at centre, with the blue Running Man Nebula (NGC 1973-5-7) above it. The smaller nebula attached to the top edge of M42 is M43. The blue star cluster at top above the Running Man is NGC 1981; the loose star cluster below M42 is NGC 1980. This is a stack of 8 x 5-minute exposures with the Canon EOS Ra mirrorless camera at ISO 800 unfiltered, blended with a stack of 6 x 8-minute exposures at ISO 1600 but through the dual-band Optolong L-Enhance filter that records the faint red nebulosity very well. Blending and masking the filtered with the unfiltered shots allows the faint red nebulosity to come through while retaining the blues, magentas and even subtle greens of the bright nebulosity and the blue of the hot stars as recorded by the “white-light” images. These two sets of long exposures are blended using luminosity masks with a set of 6 x 60-second exposures and 4 x 30-second exposures, both at ISO 400, for recording the bright core of M42 with its Trapezium stars that would otherwise be overexposed into a bright mass with only long exposures. The short exposures were all unfiltered. I applied a high-pass sharpening filter to snap up contrast in the dark lanes. All were through the SharpStar HNT150 Hyperbolic Newtonian Astrograph at its native fast focal ratio of f/2.8. for a focal length of 420mm. Taken from home January 28, 2020. All stacked, aligned and blended in Photoshop 2020. PS’s Auto-Align function aligned all 24 images in one fell swoop in less than a minute.
This is a portrait of the main nebulosity in Orion around the Belt and Sword, including: the Orion Nebula itself (at bottom), aka Messiers 42 and 43; the Running Man Nebula above (aka NGC 1973-5-7); the dark Horsehead Nebula (B33) silhouetted in front of the bright nebula IC 434; the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) above Alnitak; and at top left the reflection nebulas Messier 78 and NGC 2071. However, the entire field is filled with streamers and patches of emission and reflection nebulas. The three stars of the Belt of Orion are at centre, from L to R: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. The large loose open star cluster Collinder 70 surrounds the centre star of the belt, Alnilam. The bright blue star cluster NGC 1981 shines above the Running Man. The field of view is almost 9° by 6°. This is a stack of just 11 x 4-minute exposures with an Askar FMA230 astrograph (230mm focal length at f/4.5), and stock Canon R6 camera at ISO 800. The camera was not modified and no filters were employed here. The field could have used more exposures but clouds and altitude prevented that! Some light haze on some frames added star glows. I did not take short exposures for the core of the bright Orion Nebula. Nebulosity is brought out in Photoshop using successive curves with luminosity masks generated by Lumenzia, and with applications of the Nebula Filter action from the PhotoKemi StarTools action set, and Enhance DSO from the Astronomy Tools action set. All alignment and layering was in Photoshop. Taken from home January 25, 2022. Autoguided and dithered with the MGEN3 guider, with LENR dark frame subtraction also applied to each frame in camera to eliminate the edge amp glow the R6 exhibits. It was about -5° C this night.
This frames most of the constellation of Perseus, emphasizing the bright and dark nebulas within it, as well as the star clusters in and around the constellation suitable for binoculars or a telescope. At top is the IC 1805/1848 complex known as the Heart and Soul Nebulas. At lower left is a small emission nebula NGC 1491. Beside it are the star clusters NGC 1528 and 1545. At lower centre is the Messier cluster M34, while over the border in Andromeda is the large and loose star cluster NGC 752, at lower right. Algol is the star at bottom centre. At lower left is Mirfak surrounded by the Perseus OB Association of young blue stars. At top centre is the famous showpiece, the Double Cluster. The Milky Way is streaked with yellowish dust clouds, contrasting with the bluer sky off the Milky Way at right. The most prominent dark nebula is from the Barnard Catalogue, B8/B11, at far left. This is a stack of 27 x 3-minute exposures with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 50mm and at f/2.8, on the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 1600, on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. Shot with an URTH Night light pollution filter. Taken from home October 7, 2021. Luminosity mask adjustments applied with Lumenzia. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar AI.
