Running Man Nebula - NGC 1977 - Explored 13th February 2025

The Running Man Nebula is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. It is approximately 1,500 light-years away from Earth. The nebula is part of the area known as Orion’s Sword, along with its brighter and larger neighbour, the Orion Nebula (M42).

 

Last night was a clear hot night in Melbourne and because the was a full Moon I decided to setup the scope so I could test my collimation with a star test. After spending an hour or so tweaking the scope, rather than pack up, I thought I would do a quick image to test the scope. As I only had a small amount of time, I needed a bright object so I thought M42 - the Orion Nebula. Not really a good target as with the 1625mm focal length on the very centre was in the field of view. Then a thought "the Running Man nebula". After framing, focusing and calibrating the guiding, I imaged for 1 hour, and this is the result.

 

Equipment Details:

• GSO 8" Carbon Fibre Ritchey Chretien (RC8) Telescope

• Skywatcher NEQ6 Mount

• ZWO ASI533MC Pro Color Camera cooled to -10'c

• Orion ST80 Guide Scope

• ZWO ASI120 Mini Guide Camera

• ZWO ASIAir Pro for Mount Control, Polar Aligning and Image Acquisition.

 

 

Exposure Details:

• 20 X 180 seconds - Bin 1x1

 

Total Integration Time: 60 mins

 

Processed in PixInsight

Done