Alnitak and surroundings

The area around the stars Alnitak, Horsehead and Flame.

Alnitak and surroundings

The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae in the sky. It is actually an opaque cloud of dust that is illuminated by the bright emission nebula IC 434. The brightest star in the image is Alnitak, the outer star of Orion's belt. To the left below Alnitak is the orange emission Flame Nebula.

Imaging details

Telescope: Astrograph SW 200/800 Carbon
Reducer: F4 Aplanatic coma corrector 4-element
Focal length: 800 mm
Camera: DSLR EOS 500D - mod.
Mount: NEQ 6 SS - mod.
Autoguiding: SW ED80, G1-0300, PHD, dithering
Date: photographed 8 nights during the year 2015-2016
Location: Loučka Astrolet Observatory
Exposure: RGB: 62×300 s, ISO 800, H-alpha 12 nm: 59×600 s, ISO 800
Processing: PixInsight

Images of the object

Selected views and details from the original gallery.

New processing

The opening image presents a new processing of the photograph of the Alnitak object and its surroundings. Original images are retained for comparison.