Horsehead Nebula

Posted by Dan Kearl on Tue Jan 16, 2024 7:34 pm

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I took this image in a very short span of clear sky last month with a new 700mm telescope. Combined with the Crop sensor asi533mc astro camera, this is a view of the famous nebula in Orion at 1890mm effective focal length.
A lot of people don't understand why some Nebula are named what they are, The Horsehead Nebula needs no explanation.
Askar 103 scope, Zwo asi533mc color camera, Radian triad filter.
PP in Pixinsight, Capture one, Affinity and PS.
Click on image for better view.

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by Axel Hildebrandt on Tue Jan 16, 2024 10:35 pm

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Appropriately named and such a cool capture of it. Thanks for sharing, Dan!

Axel Hildebrandt

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by John Labrenz on Wed Jan 17, 2024 1:41 am

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WOW

This is amazing!

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by Swissblad on Wed Jan 17, 2024 3:34 am

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Very impressive image - great capture and processing.

Thanks for sharing.

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by Cynthia Crawford on Wed Jan 17, 2024 7:57 am

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Another stunner! What is the bright area below the horse's head?

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by david fletcher on Wed Jan 17, 2024 8:20 am

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Just amazing. You are right about the naming, although I don't understand why that would puzzle some people. Hey, ho.

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by Dan Kearl on Wed Jan 17, 2024 11:36 am

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Thanks everyone for the nice comments.
Cynthia, the bright area below the Horsehead is NGC 2023, a very large reflection nebula.

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by Carol Clarke on Wed Jan 17, 2024 4:33 pm

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Another stunning capture of this amazing Nebula Dan. This is quite magical.

Carol.

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by Mark Boranyak on Thu Jan 18, 2024 9:10 am

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I became fascinated by astronomy as a kid after viewing images of this famous nebula.. Thanks for bringing back fond memories.

Outstanding photography.

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by E.J. Peiker on Fri Jan 19, 2024 11:03 am

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Excellent shot of this nebula!

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by DavePat on Fri Jan 19, 2024 1:32 pm

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This is pretty up close and personal. Great job. I wonder if you can comment on the number of lights you stacked and the length of the total exposure for the final image? How bright was the sky in the area this image was taken? Since the Radian filter you used only lets through some very narrow band light frequencies, can you also comment on the benefits/strengths/weaknesses of this filter as an effective light pollution filter compared to the regular light pollution filters that are out there? Thanks for your photo and expertise.

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by Dan Kearl on Fri Jan 19, 2024 2:11 pm

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DavePat wrote: This is pretty up close and personal. Great job. I wonder if you can comment on the number of lights you stacked and the length of the total exposure for the final image? How bright was the sky in the area this image was taken? Since the Radian filter you used only lets through some very narrow band light frequencies, can you also comment on the benefits/strengths/weaknesses of this filter as an effective light pollution filter compared to the regular light pollution filters that are out there? Thanks for your photo and expertise.

Thanks Dave, this was just 2 hours (24-3 min. exposures). I would normally not do 3 minutes on the horsehead if Alnitak was in the frame as it
blows everything out. With the focal length I was at I was able to keep it our of the frame and do longer subs.
The Horsehead and nearby Orion M42 are so bright it doesn't take much time to get a decent image.
I shoot Orion with 30 and 60 second subs. I would shoot the Horsehead at 60-120 seconds if it was a wider view.
Most deep space objects I shoot 5-10 minute, I have good mounts and guidescopes so it isn't a problem with astro cooled cameras.
The Radian filter I have was crazy expensive ($1000), they no longer make them as nobody could afford them.
There are a lot of good filters out now that are similar by Antila and Optolong that are in the $2-300 range that are probably as good.
I can shoot the Radian filter in Full moon.
I bought a Mono camera and went the full narrowband route also on one setup that works really well also except not as well in Full moon as
the Radian on a color camera.
I live in the center of Portland, Oregon, all of these filters work amazing for light pollution considering where I shoot.

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by DavePat on Sat Jan 20, 2024 4:01 pm

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Dan Kearl wrote:
DavePat wrote: This is pretty up close and personal. Great job. I wonder if you can comment on the number of lights you stacked and the length of the total exposure for the final image? How bright was the sky in the area this image was taken? Since the Radian filter you used only lets through some very narrow band light frequencies, can you also comment on the benefits/strengths/weaknesses of this filter as an effective light pollution filter compared to the regular light pollution filters that are out there? Thanks for your photo and expertise.
Thanks Dave, this was just 2 hours (24-3 min. exposures). I would normally not do 3 minutes on the horsehead if Alnitak was in the frame as it
blows everything out. With the focal length I was at I was able to keep it our of the frame and do longer subs.
The Horsehead and nearby Orion M42 are so bright it doesn't take much time to get a decent image.
I shoot Orion with 30 and 60 second subs. I would shoot the Horsehead at 60-120 seconds if it was a wider view.
Most deep space objects I shoot 5-10 minute, I have good mounts and guidescopes so it isn't a problem with astro cooled cameras.
The Radian filter I have was crazy expensive ($1000), they no longer make them as nobody could afford them.
There are a lot of good filters out now that are similar by Antila and Optolong that are in the $2-300 range that are probably as good.
I can shoot the Radian filter in Full moon.
I bought a Mono camera and went the full narrowband route also on one setup that works really well also except not as well in Full moon as
the Radian on a color camera.
I live in the center of Portland, Oregon, all of these filters work amazing for light pollution considering where I shoot.

Thank you. This really helps me get up to speed.