| Designation |
Messier 42/43 & NGC
1973-75-77: The Great Orion Nebula and the Running Man nebula
|
| Type | Emission and Reflection Nebulae with open star clusters |
| Constellation | Orion |
| Coordinates |
Telescope
centered at RA '05 35 06' Dec '-05 29 13'
|
| Magnitude | 3.7 |
| Size | M42/43 complex -approximately 30 light years |
| Distance | 1,500 light years from Earth |
| Dimensions | M42/43 complex: 85 x 60 arcminutes, NGC 1973-77: 25' |
| Image Field | 90.6 x 131.3 arcminutes |
|
Notes:
|
Volumes have been written about this wonderful and complex region. M42 is the brightest diffuse nebula in the sky. It is the brightest portion of a very large cloud of dust and gas that extends for 10 degrees covering 1/2 of the constellation of Orion and containing numerous other interesting areas such as M78 and the Horsehead nebula. |
| The central region, which is referred to as the trapezium is a very active star birthing area. The Hubble Space Telescope discovered not only new stars being "born", but also planets in the making (proto planetary disks). | |
|
|
| Telescope | Takahashi FS60C f/5.9 on Losmandy G-11 with Gemini L3 |
| Focal Length | 264 mm @ f/4.4 with Takahashi focal reducer |
| Guiding | Starlight Xpress SXV guidehead through 10" SCT @ f/3.3 |
| Telescope Control | Maxim DL (V4.07) |
| 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 | 5.23 arcsec/pixel |
| Filters |
1.25" Astronomik Type II Dichroic
IR blocking filters in Astronomik filter drawer - Clear, Red, Green,
Blue, Ha, SII, OIII
|
| Exposures | Total exposure time: 350 minutes -Lum: 105 (18 x 5 & 15x1), Red: 20 (4x5), Green: 30 (6 x5), Blue: 45 (9x5), Ha: 45 (9x5), SII: 60 (6x10), OIII: 45 (9x5) |
| Calibration | bias |
| Processing Software | Maxim DL (v 4.07), Photoshop CS (8.0), NEAT Image |
| Location | Chiefland Astronomy Village, FL - 29.393 N , - 82.863 W |
| Date/Time | 02/05/05 '00:08' - '06:55' UT' |
