Great Nebula in Orion 

February 16, 2017

OrionNebula-27Lights26lights-TakaDSAObCumeada-net (4)

Photographer: Miguel Claro
Summary Authors: Miguel Claro; Jim Foster

Shown above is the dusty heart of the Orion Nebula (M42) as captured from the Cumeada Observatory at the Dark Sky Reserve near Alqueva, Portugal. This huge nebula complex, located in the constellation of Orion the Hunter, is positioned in the great hunter's sword. Though the Orion Nebula is some 1,350 light years away, it's visible to the naked eye, away from city lights. Not only is it massive, spanning about 24 light years, and bright, one of the brightest nebulae in the night sky, M42 is also one of the closer star-forming regions in our part of the Milky Way. Astronomers have recently directly observed protoplanetary disks and brown dwarfs in this Great Nebula. Photo taken on December 29, 2016.

Photo Details: Taka FSQ-106ED refractor telescope; Extender-Q 1.6x; EM200 auto-guided; Nikon D810A camera;  ISO 1600 - 10 seconds x 5 exposure (lights); ISO 1600 - 30 seconds x 5 exposure (lights); ISO 1600 - 240 seconds x 17 exposure (lights); total integration of 27 lights and 71 minutes. Processing on PixInsight 1.8 and CS6.