Altinak  &  The  Flame  & Horsehead  Nebulae

(NGC 2024 & B 33/IC 343)

Part of the vast complex of dust and gas in the constellation Orion, NGC 2024 is the relatively bright nebula at the bottom of the image just to the left of  center. The common name of "Flame Nebula" comes from the flame shaped clouds of darker dust superimposed on the bright portion.  The Horsehead nebula is the dark cloud shaped like a horse's head near the lower right corner. It is superimposed over the diffuse nebula IC 343 which is the red glow behind the horse head. The very bright star near the center of the image is Altinak which is the left hand star in Orion's "belt". All of these nebulae are farily dim and not easily visible in smaller scopes. Certain filters help to make them more visible. I could not seen any of the nebulosity in this photo through the scope I used to take the photograph. I simply lined up Altinak near the left center of the field of view and started the exposures.

Details:

Imaged 10/25/2008 between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM Central Daylight Time from Fordland, MO

Equipment:

Camera: Canon 40D with UV/IR filter removed at Prime Focus
Imaging Scope: 8” F4.9 Orion Reflector
Guide Scope: 120mm F5.0 Orion refractor
Guiding: GuideDog software and SAC-7b camera
Mount: Losmandy CG-11

Image Information:

9 frames, 10 minutes each @ ISO 800 + average of 5 darks
No flat or bias frames
Captured with Canon EOS Utility
Processed with Images Plus 3.5