Messier 41, open star cluster below Sirius in Canis Major. This is a stack of 4 x 6 minute exposures at ISO 800 with the Canon 5D MkII and Astro-Physics Traveler 105mm apo refractor, shot from Timor Cottage, Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, December 2012.
The Orion Nebula, Messier 42, one of the brightest nebulas in the sky, glowing brightly like an island amid the much fainter clouds of stardust and gas that pervades the region. The bright young stars at the core of the nebula (here overexposed) light up the nearby gas clouds. The area is also filled with clusters of hot blue stars, such as NGC 1981 at top and NGC 1980 at bottom. Just above the main mass of the Orion Nebula is the blueish “Running Man Nebula,” the reflection nebula NGC 1975. Some faint parallel streaks runnign horizontally across the image are trails from geostationary satellites that did not completely subtract when stacking the images in Median Combine mode as each frame had trails. This is a stack of 10 x 6 minute exposures with the TMB 92mm apo refractor at f/4.4 with the Borg 0.85x field flattener/reducer and the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800. Taken from New Mexico, Nov 27, 2014, U.S. Thanksgiving Day.
The Beehive star cluster, aka Messier 44, or the Praesepe, in Cancer, set in a relatively wide-field that includes the stars Asellus Borealis (above) and Asellus Australis (below) flanking the Beehive. They are also known, respectively, as Gamma and Delta Cancri. The field is roughly 7.5° by 5°, about the field of view of binoculars. This is a stack of 25 x 1-minute unguided exposures with the Canon R6 at ISO 1600 and the Sharpstar 61EDPH refractor at f/4.5. This was part of testing the new replacement lens sent by Sharpstar. Diffraction spikes and star glows added with AstronomyTools actions for artistic effect.
