Orion's Belt and Sword

The belt and sword region in the constellation Orion, is probably the most photographed portion of the sky. And for good reason. The region contains some of the most beautiful nebula to be found in all the sky. From M42, the Great Orion Nebula shown at the upper right, to the prominent Horsehead Nebula show near the bottom left just right of the belt star, Alnitak. And below Alnitak is the beautiful Flame Nebula and to the left of the Great Orion Nebula is the Running Man Nebula.

Image Specifications:

     •  Instrument:  Canon 200mm f/2.8L @ f3.5
     •  Camera:  Canon 20Da
     •  Filters:  Hutech IDAS LPS (Light Pollution)
     •  Mount:  Losmandy GM-8 Equatorial
     •  Guiding:  SBIG STV Autoguider with Vixen 400mm Guidescope
     •  Time / Date :  November 24, 2006, 10:00PM EDT
     •  Location:  Coyle Field, NJ
     •  Weather:  Clear, 37degF
     •  Primary Exposure :  43 x 90sec, ISO 1600, RAW, Sigma clipped average combined
     •  Calibration Frames:  15 x 90sec, ISO 1600, RAW, Average combined
     •  Image Processing :  Images Plus DDP, Photoshop CS2