M42 is universally known as The Great Orion Nebula, and form togheter with other nebulas and open star clusters the Sword of Orion. The Orion Nebula was known from antiquity, being a bright object easily visible to the naked eye under dark skies. The nebula contains regions of emitting gases, and others which reflects the starlight: the colors that can be revealed with long exposure images are outstanding. This object is probably one of the most imaged in both the emispheres. However, it is not an easy target, because the brightness difference between the center and the edges is enormous. Today, applying digital techniques help greatly the astroimagers to solve this problems.
- Camera : Starlight Xpress SXV-H9 with Astronomik Ha and LRGB filters
- Telescope : Takahashi FS-102 at F/6 with focal reducer on a GM2000-FS2
- Guiding : ST4 on a Vixen 80/910mm.
- Exposure : Ha 6x600sec. plus 5X120sec. - RGB 4x600 sec. each plus 5X60sec. - All unbinned
- Processing : MaxIm (align, combine, stretching) - Photoshop (final enhancing)
- Location : from my backyard in Castano Primo (Milan)
- Date : December 25, 2003
Click here to see a higher resolution image
