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The constellation Orion is host to a number
of very bright, very large nebulae.
The great Orion Nebula, M42, is well known and easily spotted in even a small telscope
aimed at Orion's sword.
But it is only one of many nebulae to be found in the constellation.
This is a mosaic of four frames to show the extent of M42, February 19, 1999.
(This image captures only about 2/3 of the full cloud of dust and gasses).
Each frame is made of 15 exposures of 20 sec. each stacked to provide a total exposure of 5 min.
This image is a 3 color composite made using cyan, yellow and magenta filters.
It shows the variety of colors and structure in the center of the nebula.
The Horse Head nebula (Barnard 33, a dark nebula), left, and the Flame nebula
(NGC 2024), right, are found at the east most star in Orion's belt.
Thick dark clouds of dust obsure the glowing clouds behind these nebula, giving them their
distinctive character.
(The Horse Head is artificially colored, NGC2024 is a CYM color composite.)
Nebula NGC2023 (Left) is located between the Horse Head and the Flame Nebulae
Nebula M78 (Right) is located just north of Orion's Belt.
Note:
The Spikes and Streaks on the bright stars are artifacts of the telescope and the CCD camera.
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