SOCO IMAGE GALLERY


 

M 42   The Orion Nebula

M 42 is the Great Nebula in Orion, which has been observed since antiquity as the fuzzy "star" in Orion's sword. This image also includes M 43, the small spherical appendage partially obscurred by dark dust clouds on the lower left side of the main nebula. The "Trapezium" of four stars can be seen at the heart of the nebula. This recent image was acquired to test a process for combining image data acquired through narrow-band filters (Hα, Hβ and OIII) with corresponding image data acquired through standard broad-band red, green and blue filters. This procedure can be found in the Image Processing section of this website. I believe that the resulting image is close to the "true color" of this object.

Date(s) Acquired: 17 January 2015
Telescope: Orion 120mm EON Apochromatic Refractor
Camera: QSI Model 583

 

   Exposure Time (min) 
   Number of Exposures
   RGB
   0.5
   Hα
   4
   Hβ
   4
   OIII
   4
   RGB
   8
   Hα
   8
   Hβ
   8
   OIII
   8

 

Processing:
Master red, green, blue, Hα, Hβ and OIII images created using Basic Processing Procedure I.
Hybrid Master red, green and blue images created using Basic Processing Procedure II.
Color composite image created using Basic Processing Procedure III.
Color composite image contrast-stretched using Adobe Photoshop.




 

 

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