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Read More: The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared (EarthSky) The Flame Nebula. You will also notice an interesting feature to the lower left of my image. The Flame and Horsehead Nebulas in Orion's Belt. Orion: Belt, Flame, and Horsehead A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebula to star clusters, all embedded in an extended patch of gaseous wisps in the greater Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. If you have too much light pollution or haze in the air, it can disappear. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula's base are young stars just in the process of forming. The Flame Nebula, designated as NGC 2024 and Sh2-277, is an emission nebula on the left hand side of the Horsehead. What lights up the Flame Nebula? It is also a challenging object to find through telescopes, mostly because the horse’s head is a dark nebula, while the gas behind it is made of hydrogen. The Horsehead and flame nebula can not be seen with the naked eye, and are too faint to be seen through binoculars. Light takes about 1500 years to reach us from the Horsehead Nebula. Horsehead and Flame Nebula Contains: Horsehead nebula, IC 434, IC 435, NGC 2023, NGC 2024 , The star Alnitak (ζOri), The star σOri. I acquired this image over the last month, shooting through a deep red (Hydrogen alpha, also called Ha or H-alpha)) filter when the moon was out. February 23, 2014. … Just to the lower left of the Horsehead nebula featured picture is a blueish reflection nebulae that preferentially reflects the blue light from nearby stars. Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula (H-alpha) Click image for full size version. The Horsehead and Flame Nebulae region in the constellation Orion. This image was taken from Samphran, Thailand, using a 300mm F3.0 telescope, and is the result of approximately 39 hours taken through L, R, G, B, Hydrogen-alpha and Sulfur 2 filters. The horse head shape is silhouetted against a backdrop of illuminated hydrogen gas. The enlarged image is about the area outlined in the yellow box. The bright glowing nebula is known by astronomers as the Flame Nebula or NGC 2024. On the image left is the Flame Nebula, an orange-tinged nebula that also contains filaments of dark dust. The brightest three stars, appearing diagonally on the left of the featured image are indeed the famous three stars that make up the belt of Orion. I have framed my image to include both the Flame and Horsehead Nebula in the same image. Again, seeing the Flame Nebula is very dependent on your sky conditions. For this reason, I consider the Flame nebula the "litmus test" for the Horsehead nebula. The Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, which contains the Horsehead Nebula, is also home to the famous Orion Nebula (Messier 42), the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024), and Barnard’s Loop.. As one of the nearest regions where massive stars are formed, the cloud complex is also most easily photographed, making these some of the most recognizable objects in the sky. Fifteen hundred light years away towards the constellation of Orion lies a nebula which, from its glow and dark dust lanes, appears like a billowing fire. My first attempt at imaging (March 31, 2020) the Flame and Horsehead nebula during a 75% moon and Bortle skies 6-7. This is the Horsehead nebula and Flame that has been taken in narrowband and then blended in the tradition Hubble Space Telescope palette.
If the Flame nebula does not "leap out" at you, you need not consider trying to see the Horsehead nebula.
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