The Horsehead Nebula - Barnard 33 (Explored)
Due to a blazing bright moon on Sunday evening I decided to try and image the iconic Horsehead Nebula in Orion using my narrowband Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) filter.
The first time I have imaged this nebula!
The Horsehead Nebula is a small dark nebula situated just south of Orion's belt and close to the bright star Alnitak, the eastern most star of said belt.
The nebula is approximately 1375 light years from earth and gets its name from its resemblance to a horse's head or a knight chess piece! Although the more I look at it it reminds me of a Seahorse!
The deep red colour originates from ionised Hydrogen gas (Ha) behind the nebula. The energy source being the nearby star Sigma Orionis.
Visible foreground streaks within the ionised gas are due to magnetic forces channelling the gas into streams.
The background strip of glowing hydrogen gas marks the edge of an enormous cloud.
Heavy localized interstellar clouds of dust result in alternate areas of almost complete opacity and transparency within the Horsehead.
The darkness of the Horsehead is caused by this dark, thick dust blocking the starlight behind it.
Imaged with an Esprit 120ED refractor and a ZWO 1600MM camera/Baader Ha filter combo.
44x300s Subs Darks, Flats, Dark Flats
Gain 139 Offset 50
Camera cooled to -10
Processed using Astropixel Processor and Photoshop 2021.
This is a false-coloured Ha filtered image.
Alnitak is on the left edge of the frame with part of the Flame Nebula below it.
Thanks for looking!
The Horsehead Nebula - Barnard 33 (Explored)
Due to a blazing bright moon on Sunday evening I decided to try and image the iconic Horsehead Nebula in Orion using my narrowband Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) filter.
The first time I have imaged this nebula!
The Horsehead Nebula is a small dark nebula situated just south of Orion's belt and close to the bright star Alnitak, the eastern most star of said belt.
The nebula is approximately 1375 light years from earth and gets its name from its resemblance to a horse's head or a knight chess piece! Although the more I look at it it reminds me of a Seahorse!
The deep red colour originates from ionised Hydrogen gas (Ha) behind the nebula. The energy source being the nearby star Sigma Orionis.
Visible foreground streaks within the ionised gas are due to magnetic forces channelling the gas into streams.
The background strip of glowing hydrogen gas marks the edge of an enormous cloud.
Heavy localized interstellar clouds of dust result in alternate areas of almost complete opacity and transparency within the Horsehead.
The darkness of the Horsehead is caused by this dark, thick dust blocking the starlight behind it.
Imaged with an Esprit 120ED refractor and a ZWO 1600MM camera/Baader Ha filter combo.
44x300s Subs Darks, Flats, Dark Flats
Gain 139 Offset 50
Camera cooled to -10
Processed using Astropixel Processor and Photoshop 2021.
This is a false-coloured Ha filtered image.
Alnitak is on the left edge of the frame with part of the Flame Nebula below it.
Thanks for looking!