redshift astro
astrophotography blog / brian hitney

M42 - The Orion Nebula

nebulae

Orion is one of most well known constellations and one of the easiest to recognize in the winter sky. M42, the Orion Nebula, can easily be spotted with the unaided eye as part of the Sword of Orion. An active stellar nursery (an estimated 700 stars in various stages of formation are believed to be inside) and only about 1,500 light years away, the nebula spans some 40 light years and is the same spiral arm as our sun – the Orion Spur (see this page for a nice map of what it is thought to look like).

This image consists of a range of exposures from 15s to 60s (totalling 50 exposures) using a Canon T4i and Edge 11” SCT and Hyperstar Lens (f/2).

Resolution ........ 1.590 arcsec/pix
Rotation .......... 66.833 deg (flipped)
Focal ............. 583.68 mm
Pixel size ........ 4.50 um
Field of view ..... 2d 18' 1.9" x 1d 32' 7.7"
Image center ...... RA: 05 35 11.962  Dec: -05 24 59.12