M42 - The Great Orion Nebula

M42, the Great Orion nebula, is located in the sword part of the constellation of Orion, just below the Eastern-most of the three stars that comprise of Orion's belt. As well as being the brightest diffuse nebula in the night sky, M42 is perhaps the most famous and most photographed object in the night sky. With a visual magnitude of 4.0, it has undoubtedly been observed since ancient times, but its nebulous nature was probably not recognized until telescopes were developed. Located approximately 1,500 light years from Earth, M42 is a very active and turbulent cloud of gas and dust, and contains a large star forming region. This star forming region, centered about the trapezium, which is somewhat blown out in this image due to its high brightness, is comprised of many hot young stars. These stars in turn fuel the dense swathes of surrounding gas, causing it to ionize and produce the red emission glow.

Image Specifications:

     •  Instrument:  Takahashi FS-102 Refractor (820mm - f/8) with 0.8x Televue reducer
     •  Camera:  Canon 20Da
     •  Filters:  Hutech IDAS LPS (Light Pollution)
     •  Mount:  Losmandy GM-8 Equatorial
     •  Guiding:  SBIG STV Autoguider with Vixen 400mm Guidescope
     •  Time / Date :  December 20, 2007, 9:30PM EST
     •  Location:  Coyle Field, NJ
     •  Weather:  Clear, 32degF
     •  Primary Exposure :  30 x 2min, ISO 800 , RAW, average combined
     •  Calibration Frames:  16 x 2min, ISO 800, RAW, dark frames
     •  Image Processing :  Images Plus, Photoshop CS2, NoiseNinja