THE HORSEHEAD NEBULA REGION
B33 AND THE FLAME NEBULA - NGC 2024

One of the most famous objects in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula only seen because of the reflection nebula, IC 434, that shines brightly behind it.  It carries the designation of Barnard 33, one of many dark nebulae in the Barnard catalog. The other prominent nebula in the bottom center of the image is the Flame Nebula, NGC 2024.  Also pictured are IC 432 and NGC 2023, which is a reflection nebula.  The prominent star in the image is the eastern most of Orion's Belt stars, Alnitak.  This star is rather bright, shining at mag 1.7.

 The Horsehead itself cannot be seen visually except by larger aperture scopes in very dark skies.  Medium aperture scopes and some smaller scopes with fine optics can make out the shape of the Horsehead with the aid of a Hydrogen-Beta filter, but that is the exception to the rule.  A filter, dark skies, and big aperture gives you the best opportunity, but this is primarily a photographic object, and a great one at that!

Date: December 6, 2004
Location: The Ballauer Observatory near Azle, Texas
Transparency: 4.5 mag zenithal
Seeing: 3/10
Temperature: 55 degrees, camera cooled to -25 degrees C
Scope/Mount: Tak FSQ-106 @ f/5 and Tak NJP mount
Camera: SBIG STL-6303E, self-guided
Exposure Info: Ha(Ha)GB, 150 minutes Ha luminance (8 x 15 minutes); 15 x 2 minutes green and blue; all unbinned.
Processing: Dark frame calibration, deblooming, registration, and Sigma Combine in MaxIm DL 4.  Digital Development and RGB combine in MaxIm DL 4.  Color balance, curves, levels, selective sharpening/blurring/despeckle in Photoshop CS. Masking of additional H-alpha luminance performed in Photoshop CS.

Extra Notes: An additional 30 minutes of h-alpha luminance was taken December 9, 2004.  This allowed for more detail in the foreground.   

 THE HORSEHEAD NEBULA REGION in HYDROGEN-ALPHA LIGHT
USED FOR LUMINANCE IN THE ABOVE COLORED IMAGE

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