Orion Widefield, HSO

This is a widefild image of the constellation Orion, from the belt (left) to the Orion Nebula, M42 (right). This widefield image shows much of the Orion Molecular Cloud. It is a rich star forming region. Reference the previous LRGB mosaic image of the same region. The LRGB image labels celestial objects.

To summarize the main objects of interest.

1. Two of the three stars that form the belt of Orion is to the left.

2. The Flame Nebula, NGC 2024, the pale reflection nebula, located at the bottom of the image, to the left.

3. The Horsehead Nebula, Barnard 33 emission nebula, is located to the left, below center.

4. The Orion Nebula, M42, is the bright blue nebula to the right.

5. The Running Man Nebula, sh 2-279, is to the left of the Orion Nebula.

This image is a narrowband image. Ionized gases in this nebula produce three prominent emissions: Hydrogen Alpha (656.3 nm), Sulfur II (672 nm) and Oxygen III (500.7 nm).

The color mapping, for this image, is as follows:

Red: Hydrogen Alpha (656.3 nm)

Yellow: Sulfur II (672 nm)

Blue: Oxygen III (500.7 nm)

Bottom line, this mapping communicates the composition of different regions in the nebula. It does not represent the way the nebula appears to our eyes. Although my color mapping is more consistent with our color perception as opposed to using the Hubble Palette.

Red regions are Hydrogen. Yellow regions are Sulfur. Blue regions are Oxygen. Orange regions are a combination of Hydrogen and Sulfur. White nebulosity is a combination of Hydrogen, Oxygen and Sulfur.

Image processed by Andrew Macica, original data from Telescope Live.

Imaging Details:

Observatory: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain

Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4

Aperture: 106 mm (4.17 inches), f/3.6

Focal Length: 382 mm w/ .73 field flattener

Camera: FLI ProLine PL16803 CCD

Filters: Ha, SII, OIII (HSO)

Total Exposure: 9 hours 45 minutes

Image Processing:

PixInsight 1.8.9-3 Ripley (x64);

BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, StarXTerminator (RC Astro);

Python 3.9;

Adobe Photoshop 25.12.1;

Adobe Lightroom Classic 14.2

Instruction on PixInsight from Adam Block Studios.