| Designation |
Messier 42 - The Great Orion Nebula (trapezium)
|
| Type | Emission & Reflection Nebula |
| Constellation | Orion |
| Coordinates | Telescope centered at RA '05 35 30 ' - Dec ' - 05 25 37' |
| Magnitude | |
| Size | 10 light years |
| Distance | 6,300 light years |
| Dimensions | 6 x 4 arcminutes |
| Image Field | 15 x 19 arcminutes |
|
Notes:
|
Messier 42: NGC 1976 - The Great Orion Nebula is aptly named. It truly
is a magnificient object in any instrument. It is visible to the naked
eye as the hazy patch around Theta Orionis, the middle "star"
of Orion's sword. M42 is probably the most famous of the emission
nebula visible to North hemisphere observers. It is a cloud of gas
glowing by flourescence due to the presence of a hot luminous star
emitting a large amount of high-energy ultraviolet radiation.
|
| The ultraviolet photons strip the electrons off the hydrogen atoms creating free electrons and hydrogen ions. When these recombine, they emit various wavelengths of low-energy radiation. M42 is particulary rich in emissions in the hydrogen-alpha line appearing as the "red clouds". | |
|
|
| Telescopes | Meade 10" LX200 f/10 on Losmandy G-11 with Gemini L3 |
| Focal Length | 1575 mm @ f/6.3 |
| Guiding | SXV guidehead through Takahashi FS60C @ f/5.9 |
| Telescope Control | Maxim DL (V3) |
| CCD Camera |
Starlight
Xpress SXV-H9 - USB 2 ExView progressive scan
1392 x 1040 (6.45 uM)
pixel array (8.98 x 6.71 active area)
|
| Image Scale | .88 arcsec/pixel |
| Filters |
1.25"
Astronomik Type II Dichroic IR blocking filters in Astronomik filter
drawer - Lum, Green, Blue, Ha
|
| Exposures |
142 minutes total: Ha 91
minutes (5 x 5 & 33 x 2) unbinned, Green & Blue - 20
minutes each (10 X 2) binned 2x, Lum 11 minutes (3 x 2 &
5 x 1). Sigma combined. Lum channel 80/20% Ha/Lum - Red channel -
100%Ha (Ha/LumHaGB)
|
| Calibration | None |
| Processing Software | Maxim DL, Photoshop CS (8.0) |
| Location | Chiefland Astronomy Village, FL - 29.393 N , - 82.863 W |
| Date/Time |
11/7/04 - 08:21 - 11:07
UT
|
