A mosaic of the Belt and Sword region of Orion the Hunter, revealing the diverse and colourful array of nebulas in the area, all a part of a vast star-formation complex. The Orion Nebula itself, Messier 42, is below centre, overexposed here. But also visible are the large red Barnard’s Loop, at left, and the blue Witchhead Nebula, IC 2118, at right, illuminated by the bright star Rigel. The Horsehead Nebula is visible below the left start of the Belt of Orion. Above it is the pinkish Flame Nebula, NGC 2024, and above it the bluish M78 reflection nebula complex. This is a 4-panel mosaic shot Jan 1, 2016 from home on a very clear night, though with some sky gradients. Each panel is a stack of 5 x 3-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the Canon L-Series 135mm lens, on the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1000. The camera was tracking but unguided on the AP Mach One mount. Orion was on the meridian but even so there was a lot of difference in sky brightness between panel segments. Also, trails from geostationary satellites appeared in each frame, as Orion was then near the opposition point, due south at midnight. I eliminated these with a Median combine stack mode for each panel segment. Plus from my latitude southern Orion tends to sit in brighter sky gradients, so the lower panels were brighter and more sky fogged than the upper panels. All stacking and stitching in Photoshop CC 2015.
A mosaic of the Sword and Belt region of Orion the Hunter, showing the diverse array of colourful nebulas in the area, including: curving Barnard’s Loop, the Horsehead Nebula below the left star of the Belt, Alnitak, and the Orion Nebula itself as the bright region in the Sword. Also in the field are numerous faint blue reflection nebulas. The reflection nebula M78 is at top embedded in a dark nebula, and the pinkish NGC 2024 or Flame Nebula is above Alnitak. The bright orange-red star at far right is W Orionis, a type M4 long-period variable star. This is a 4-panel mosaic with each panel made of 5 x 2.5-minute exposures with the 135mm Canon L-series telephoto wide open at f/2 and the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1250. The night was somewhat hazy which added natural glows on the stars. No filter was employed here. The camera was on the iOptron Sky-Tracker for tracking but no guiding. Shot from outside Quailway Cottage near Portal, Arizona, Dec 7, 2015. All stacking and stitching performed in Photoshop CC 2015. Stacking done with median combine stack mode to eliminate geosat trails through the fields.
The constellation of Orion and its included and surrounding nebulas, taken from Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, December 13/14, 2012, with Sigma 50mm lens at f/3.2 and the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800 for stack of 6 x 4 minute exposures. Some exposures had light cirrus cloud passing through which added the star glows naturally. I have turned Orion right side up but from Australia Orion would appear upside down -- the part of the frame closest to the horizon when I took this was the top of the frame. Belelgeuse is at upper left, Rigel at lower right.
