<![CDATA[ScienceDownEast - ScienceDownEast Astrophotography - M42 Orion Nebula (Latest images)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto Sat, 08 Aug 2026 05:29:51 -0300 Sat, 08 Aug 2026 05:29:51 -0300 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Zenphoto RSS Generator <![CDATA[M42 (Orion Nebula) (M42 Orion Nebula)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_HDR_M_42.jpg M42 (Orion Nebula)Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Orion and the closest large region of massive star formation to Earth, at a distance of roughly 1,300-1,350 light-years. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and spans about 25 light-years, powered by the intense ultraviolet radiation of the young Trapezium star cluster embedded at its heart. The nebula's enormous dynamic range, an extremely bright core surrounded by much fainter outer wisps and dust lanes, makes it a favorite target for HDR-style processing combining short and long exposures. It responds well to both broadband color imaging and Hα/O III/S II narrowband work, and adjoins the smaller M43 nebula just to its north.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula]

Moon PhaseWaning Gibbous
CameraToupTek ATR2600C
OpticsSkywatcher Esprit 120ED, 840 mm focal length, f/7 (120 mm aperture, APO triplet)
Date2025-01-17
PixInsight Processing
Histogram Transformation (x2)
PixelMath
Curves Transformation

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_HDR_M_42.jpg Fri, 17 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400 <![CDATA[M42 (Orion Nebula) (M42 Orion Nebula)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_HDR_v2o.jpg M42 (Orion Nebula)Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Orion and the closest large region of massive star formation to Earth, at a distance of roughly 1,300-1,350 light-years. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and spans about 25 light-years, powered by the intense ultraviolet radiation of the young Trapezium star cluster embedded at its heart. The nebula's enormous dynamic range, an extremely bright core surrounded by much fainter outer wisps and dust lanes, makes it a favorite target for HDR-style processing combining short and long exposures. It responds well to both broadband color imaging and Hα/O III/S II narrowband work, and adjoins the smaller M43 nebula just to its north.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula]

Moon PhaseWaning Gibbous
CameraToupTek ATR2600C
OpticsSkywatcher Esprit 120ED, 840 mm focal length, f/7 (120 mm aperture, APO triplet)
Date2025-01-17
PixInsight Processing
Histogram Transformation (x2)
PixelMath (x2)
Curves Transformation

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_HDR_v2o.jpg Fri, 17 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400 <![CDATA[M42 (Orion Nebula) (M42 Orion Nebula)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_HDR_v2.jpg M42 (Orion Nebula)Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Orion and the closest large region of massive star formation to Earth, at a distance of roughly 1,300-1,350 light-years. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and spans about 25 light-years, powered by the intense ultraviolet radiation of the young Trapezium star cluster embedded at its heart. The nebula's enormous dynamic range, an extremely bright core surrounded by much fainter outer wisps and dust lanes, makes it a favorite target for HDR-style processing combining short and long exposures. It responds well to both broadband color imaging and Hα/O III/S II narrowband work, and adjoins the smaller M43 nebula just to its north.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula]

Moon PhaseWaning Gibbous
CameraToupTek ATR2600C
OpticsSkywatcher Esprit 120ED, 840 mm focal length, f/7 (120 mm aperture, APO triplet)
Date2025-01-17
PixInsight Processing
Histogram Transformation (x2)
PixelMath (x2)
Curves Transformation

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_HDR_v2.jpg Fri, 17 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400 <![CDATA[M42 (Orion Nebula) (M42 Orion Nebula)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=masterLight_BIN-1_2160x3840_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-LP_RGB_fastIntegration_MAS.jpg M42 (Orion Nebula)Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Orion and the closest large region of massive star formation to Earth, at a distance of roughly 1,300-1,350 light-years. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and spans about 25 light-years, powered by the intense ultraviolet radiation of the young Trapezium star cluster embedded at its heart. The nebula's enormous dynamic range, an extremely bright core surrounded by much fainter outer wisps and dust lanes, makes it a favorite target for HDR-style processing combining short and long exposures. It responds well to both broadband color imaging and Hα/O III/S II narrowband work, and adjoins the smaller M43 nebula just to its north.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula]

Moon PhaseNew Moon
CameraSeestar S30 Pro (4K Sony IMX585 sensor)
Optics160 mm focal length, f/5.3, 30 mm aperture (APO quadruplet)
Date2026-02-17
PixInsight Processing
Image Integration
Fast Integration
Drizzle Integration (x2)
GraXpert (gradient removal)
Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
Multiscale Median Transform
Curves Transformation
Fast Rotation

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=masterLight_BIN-1_2160x3840_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-LP_RGB_fastIntegration_MAS.jpg Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400 <![CDATA[M42 (Orion Nebula) (M42 Orion Nebula)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_S30.jpg M42 (Orion Nebula)Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Orion and the closest large region of massive star formation to Earth, at a distance of roughly 1,300-1,350 light-years. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and spans about 25 light-years, powered by the intense ultraviolet radiation of the young Trapezium star cluster embedded at its heart. The nebula's enormous dynamic range, an extremely bright core surrounded by much fainter outer wisps and dust lanes, makes it a favorite target for HDR-style processing combining short and long exposures. It responds well to both broadband color imaging and Hα/O III/S II narrowband work, and adjoins the smaller M43 nebula just to its north.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula]

Moon PhaseWaning Gibbous
CameraSeestar S30
Optics150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
FilterLP
Binning1x1
Date2025-12-08
PixInsight Processing
Fast Integration
Drizzle Integration (x2)
Image Integration (x2)
BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
GraXpert (gradient removal)
Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
StarXTerminator (star removal)
Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (x8)
PixelMath
HDR Multiscale Transform
Curves Transformation

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_S30.jpg Mon, 08 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400 <![CDATA[M42 (Orion Nebula) (M42 Orion Nebula)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_S30+v2.jpg M42 (Orion Nebula)Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Orion and the closest large region of massive star formation to Earth, at a distance of roughly 1,300-1,350 light-years. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and spans about 25 light-years, powered by the intense ultraviolet radiation of the young Trapezium star cluster embedded at its heart. The nebula's enormous dynamic range, an extremely bright core surrounded by much fainter outer wisps and dust lanes, makes it a favorite target for HDR-style processing combining short and long exposures. It responds well to both broadband color imaging and Hα/O III/S II narrowband work, and adjoins the smaller M43 nebula just to its north.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula]

Moon PhaseWaning Gibbous
CameraSeestar S30
Optics150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
FilterLP
Binning1x1
Date2025-12-08
PixInsight Processing
Image Integration (x3)
Drizzle Integration (x2)
BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution) (x2)
GraXpert (gradient removal) (x2)
Spectrophotometric Color Calibration (x2)
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise) (x2)
StarXTerminator (star removal) (x2)
Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (x22)
PixelMath (x2)
HDR Multiscale Transform (x3)
Curves Transformation (x2)
Dynamic Crop

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_S30+v2.jpg Mon, 08 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400 <![CDATA[M42 (Orion Nebula) (M42 Orion Nebula)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=masterLight_BIN-1_2160x3840_EXPOSURE-10.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_fastIntegration_MAS.jpg M42 (Orion Nebula)Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Orion and the closest large region of massive star formation to Earth, at a distance of roughly 1,300-1,350 light-years. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and spans about 25 light-years, powered by the intense ultraviolet radiation of the young Trapezium star cluster embedded at its heart. The nebula's enormous dynamic range, an extremely bright core surrounded by much fainter outer wisps and dust lanes, makes it a favorite target for HDR-style processing combining short and long exposures. It responds well to both broadband color imaging and Hα/O III/S II narrowband work, and adjoins the smaller M43 nebula just to its north.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula]

Moon PhaseNew Moon
CameraSeestar S30 Pro (4K Sony IMX585 sensor)
Optics160 mm focal length, f/5.3, 30 mm aperture (APO quadruplet)
FilterIRCUT
Date2026-02-17
PixInsight Processing
Image Integration
Fast Integration
Drizzle Integration
Dynamic Crop
Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
Multiscale Median Transform
Fast Rotation

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=masterLight_BIN-1_2160x3840_EXPOSURE-10.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_fastIntegration_MAS.jpg Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400 <![CDATA[M42 (Orion Nebula) (M42 Orion Nebula)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=masterLight_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-10.00s_FILTER-LP_combined_RGB.jpg M42 (Orion Nebula)Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Orion and the closest large region of massive star formation to Earth, at a distance of roughly 1,300-1,350 light-years. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and spans about 25 light-years, powered by the intense ultraviolet radiation of the young Trapezium star cluster embedded at its heart. The nebula's enormous dynamic range, an extremely bright core surrounded by much fainter outer wisps and dust lanes, makes it a favorite target for HDR-style processing combining short and long exposures. It responds well to both broadband color imaging and Hα/O III/S II narrowband work, and adjoins the smaller M43 nebula just to its north.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula]

Total image time was 26 minutes.

Moon PhaseFirst Quarter
CameraSeestar S30
Optics150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
FilterLP
Binning1x1
Date2026-01-24
PixInsight Processing
Fast Integration
Image Integration (x3)
Channel Combination
BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
HDR Multiscale Transform
Dynamic Crop
Curves Transformation (x2)
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=masterLight_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-10.00s_FILTER-LP_combined_RGB.jpg Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400 <![CDATA[M42 (Orion Nebula) (M42 Orion Nebula)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=GraXpert_background_extraction_clone.jpg M42 (Orion Nebula)Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Orion and the closest large region of massive star formation to Earth, at a distance of roughly 1,300-1,350 light-years. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and spans about 25 light-years, powered by the intense ultraviolet radiation of the young Trapezium star cluster embedded at its heart. The nebula's enormous dynamic range, an extremely bright core surrounded by much fainter outer wisps and dust lanes, makes it a favorite target for HDR-style processing combining short and long exposures. It responds well to both broadband color imaging and Hα/O III/S II narrowband work, and adjoins the smaller M43 nebula just to its north.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula]

Moon PhaseNew Moon
CameraSeestar S30 Pro (4K Sony IMX585 sensor)
Optics160 mm focal length, f/5.3, 30 mm aperture (APO quadruplet)
Date2026-02-17
PixInsight Processing
Image Integration
Fast Integration
Drizzle Integration (x2)
GraXpert (gradient removal)
Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
Multiscale Median Transform
Curves Transformation
Fast Rotation

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=GraXpert_background_extraction_clone.jpg Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400 <![CDATA[M42 - The Orion Nebula and the Running Man using the SeeStar S30 (M42 Orion Nebula)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_S30-v2.jpg M42 - The Orion Nebula and the Running Man using the SeeStar S30Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The M42 The Orion Nebula and the Running Man Nebula Sh 2-279 are two prominent celestial objects located within the constellation Orion, specifically in the asterism known as Orion’s Sword. The Orion Nebula is a massive, diffuse emission nebula situated south of Orion’s Belt and is one of the brightest and closest regions of massive star formation to Earth, lying approximately 1,344 light-years away. It spans about 24 light-years across and has a mass equivalent to roughly 2,000 times that of the Sun. The nebula is illuminated by the intense ultraviolet radiation from hot young stars, particularly the Trapezium cluster (Theta Orionis), which photoionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas, causing it to glow. The Running Man Nebula, also known as NGC 1977 or Sh2-279, is a reflection nebula located about 0.6° north of the Orion Nebula. It is part of the larger HII region Sharpless 279 and is situated within the Orion Giant Molecular Cloud A, sharing a similar distance of approximately 1,500 light-years from Earth. The nebula is illuminated primarily by the star 42 Orionis, a hot B1V-type triple star system with a surface temperature of 25,400 K, which reflects blue light off interstellar dust, giving the nebula its characteristic blue hue. The nebula’s name comes from its resemblance to a human figure running, with dark lanes forming the arms and legs, and a faint round feature above resembling a head. [from AI generated output]

Total image time was 4 hours.

Moon PhaseWaning Gibbous 76%
Exposure242 x 60 sec
Gain200
CameraZWO SeeStar S30 [1920 x 1080] IMX662
OpticsZWO SeeStar S30 EQ mode [Focal length 150, Aperture 30 mm, f/5]
GuidingNA
ControllerNA
FilterLight pollution filter (OIII 30nm/Hα 20nm)
LocationLower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date2025-12-08
ProcessingProcessed in PixInsight.
PixInsight Processing
WeightedBatchPreprocessing Script [ 2x drizzle ]
BlurXTerminator
GraXpert
NoiseXTerminator
StarXTerminator
Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch on both the stars and starless images
HDRMultiScaleTransform on the Starless image
PixelMath to recombine the images
CurveTransformation


Date: December 09, 2025 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Nebulae/Orion-Nebula&image=M42_S30-v2.jpg Tue, 09 Dec 2025 14:20:09 -0400