M42 – Orion Nebula

Pictures taken on Monday 30th January 2017 from “Piani dell’Avaro” in Cusio, from Brumano and from Passo del Pertus (BG)

The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M 42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion’s Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M 42 is located at a distance of 1,344 ± 20 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M 42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across. It has a mass of about 2000 times the mass of the Sun. Older texts frequently refer to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula.

The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky, and is among the most intensely studied celestial features. The nebula has revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Astronomers have directly observed protoplanetary disks, brown dwarfs, intense and turbulent motions of the gas, and the photo-ionizing effects of massive nearby stars in the nebula.

Source: Wikipedia

 

Equipment:
Takahashi FSQ 106 EDXIII F/5
CCD Moravian G2 8300
Guide scope TecnoSky 60/228mm
Guide camera Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2
Mount Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6

Shots:
H-Alpha 10 x 30s, 10 x 300s, 8 x 900s
L 10 x 5s, 10 x 45s, 10 x 240s (thanks to Efrem Frigeni)
RGB 10 x 40s, 10 x 300s

Processing:
Pixinsight 1.8, Photoshop CC (2015)