M42 - The Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,344 ± 20 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across.

 

The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky and is among the most intensely studied celestial features. The nebula has revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust.

 

Quick word :

This is the second version of data acquired in early 2020. I selected only the best subs, and stacked them using a different method than previously in DSS.

Color calibration and background green noise removal with Siril, background extraction, HDR process and noise reduction with Pixinsight.

Final tweaks and export with Photoshop.

 

Details :

 

Date and location : Early 2020, Champ du Feu, France (bortle 3)

 

Equipement :

Mount : Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro GoTo

Scope : Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED with OVL Field Flattener

Autoguiding : ZWO ASI 120MM-Mini + 60/280 Guidescope

Camera : Nikon D3300 Astrodon

Filter : Explore Scientific 2" CLS

 

Acquisition :

Lights : 50x180" + 15x120" + 15x90", total 3h30

Darks : no darks

Flats : 2x30 flats

Bias : 125

 

Software :

Integration : Kstars, Ekos on Raspberry Pi 4

Pre-processing : DeepSkyStacker

Processing : Siril, Pixinsight

Post-processing : Photoshop

Done