The constellation of Orion is beginning to show its dominance in the night skies as we enter the Winter months. We have already seen this year’s rendition of the Orion Cloud Complex. We will now take a closer look at the region surrounding the eastern most star of Orion’s Belt, Alnitak or Zeta Orionis (the brightest star shown above). The other stars that make up Orion’s Belt are Alnilam and Mintaka.
The region around Alnitak is rich with emission and reflection nebulas. The two that are featured in this post are the Horsehead Nebula (IC 434) and the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024). Undoubtedly, my favorite is the iconic Horsehead Nebula, which is a small dark nebula that strikingly resembles a horse’s head. It is located some 1,500 light years away from Earth. See the video below to gain a better perspective.
Gear: AA Hypercam 26C, SW Evostar 72ED, HEM27 mount, SVbony Ha filter (7nm), Optolong CLS; SVbony 120mm guidescope + ZWO 120mc
Exif: Ha 2 hrs, RGB 1 hr (5-min subs); Gain 200, Offset 3, TEC @ 10 degrees