Horsehead Nebula, Flame Nebula & M42 Orion Nebula
Date/Time: February 24, 2009 10:1pm CST
Location: La Ensenada Lodge, Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica
Top to bottom: Horsehead Nebula (B33), Flame Nebula (IC434), NGC 1981 cluster, Running Man Nebula (NGC 1977), M43 nebula, Orion Nebula (M42), NGC 1980 nebula
Details: Hutech-modified Canon XTi dSLR, Canon EF 70-200mm L zoom lens operating at 149mm & f/5, ISO 1600, 100 raw exposures 30 seconds each. Astrotrac tracking mount on a Manfrotto tripod. 27°C, 70% humidity, no dew, some clouds.
Image processing:
ImagesPlus 3.5 – raw digital development, dark frames, auto alignment, average combine, aggressive contrast stretch.
ACDSee Pro 2 – cropped & size reduced, converted to 24 bit jpg.