The Horsehead Nebula - astrophotography from my back garden

Added 1644922374 by Roger More.

As well as model photography and landscapes, I also do astrophotography from my garden in Wiltshire and have set up an album of my astrophotography for your perusal.

I have an exhibition of astrophotography at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol from 28th Feb 2022 to 27th March.

The exhibition details are at: https://tobaccofactory.com/whats-on/heavenly-bodies/

There is a Facebook event for an open day on March 5th where I will be there to chat with anyone interested.: http://tinyurl.com/2c989b6s

I also have a 50-page book that describes the images and techniques used to capture and edit them. The free PDF version of this can be downloaded at https://tinyurl.com/yc5t67kp

I hope to see you there 🙂

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This is the Horsehead and Flame Nebula are in the Orion constellation next to the very bright star Alnitak, being the eastern-most star in Orion's belt, about 1500 light years away. This area contains large quantities of ionised hydrogen and oxygen gases and vast interstellar dust clouds, creating the bright and dark areas that form the shape of the Horsehead. The dust that forms the Horsehead. otherwise known as Barnard 33, is shaped by intense radiation from a nearby star. Within the dust cloud new stars are forming as the dust is compressed under the radiation and effects of gravity. The bright red background behind the Horsehead is emission nebula IC434. A reflection nebula, NGC 2023, to the lower left of the Horsehead, is illuminated by light from a bright star in front of the dust clouds.

The Flame Nebula, designated Sh2-277, to the left of the Horsehead clearly shows the dark dust lanes obscuring the light from the stars behind and from the glowing gases of the emission nebula.

This required just over 7.5 hours of 20-minute exposures using dual narrowband filters to bring out the detail and colour of this nebula.