Horsehead Nebula (B33) and IC434 Emission Nebula in Orion

This dense cloud of interstellar dust is silhouetted against the backdrop of IC434 emission nebula just 30' S of zOrionis (see finder chart below). While an extremely challenging object for visual observers, it is quite an easy trophy for a CCD camera!

The above image was taken on December 17, 1998 from Sooke, BC. Cookbook 245 LDC CCD camera was used on Celestron Ultima 8 f6.3 telescope autoguided with Cookbook 211 LDC camera on a piggybacked 500mm f8 telephoto lens. White exposures (10 x 240 sec.) were combined with cyan, magenta and yellow-filtered integrations (4 x 240 sec. each) using AIP4WIN. Color image was then adjusted in Lab color space using Corel PhotoPaint 8.

North is to the left.

The wide-field image below was taken on February 16, 2001 from Harrowsmith, Ontario. Cookbook 245 LDC CCD camera was in this case used on Celestron Ultima 8 f3.0 telescope autoguided with Cookbook 211 LDC camera on a piggybacked 500mm f8 telephoto lens. White exposures (10 x 240 sec.) were combined with cyan, magenta and yellow-filtered integrations (3 x 240 sec. each) using AIP4WIN. Color image was then adjusted in Lab color space using Corel PhotoPaint 8.

North is to the left. zOrionis is about 8' outside the left edge and its light partially flooded this view. Bright reflection nebula NGC2023 is visible in the lower left corner.

And here is a wildly wide image of Horsehead Nebula (as well as Flame Nebula - NGC2024) obtained on November 17, 2001 from Harrowsmith, Ontario. Cookbook 245 CCD camera was attached to 135mm f2.8 lens equipped with a photographic Ha filter (as well as IR-blocking filter). Ten exposures (60 sec. each) were then combined using AIP4WIN.

North is up.

Map created in Guide 7.0 - 7°45' x 7°45'. North is up.

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© Jan Wisniewski