The Great Orion Nebula is one of the first targets many astrophotographers image. I’m no different. Its also one that many revisit as they learn more. Again, I’m no different. This is my latest attempt at ending the insanity bred by this highly dynamic portion of the sky. From faint dust to naked-eye visible gas clouds housing hot, young star clusters, this one region of the sky has it all.

Tech details
Telescope: Radian Raptor 61
Camera: QHY168C
Filter: Optolong L-eNhance
Acquisition Date: 2021/11/11 and 11/12
Subexposures:
30 x 2 minutes
114 x 5 minutes
Endless hours of processing in Pixinsight and GIMP

Winter time brings some big emission nebulae to the night sky in North America. A recent favorite of mine is the Heart Nebula, also known as IC1805 or Sharpless 2-190. This nebula is absolutely massive. If you could see it with the naked eye, it would be about 9 times bigger than the full moon. Unfortunately it’s too dim to be detected by the unaided human eye. A camera can do the trick though. This image is about 6 1/2 hours of data, mathematically added together and manipulated to make what I think is a pretty picture.