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The Great Orion Nebula Complex in Hydrogen-Alpha Light

Here is a wide-field view of the entire region of the Great Orion Nebula.  This was taken with a special, narrowband filter that highlights the specific wavelength of Hydrogen gas emissions in the nebulosity.  It brings out details not normally seen by tradition RGB filters.

For color versions and more information on this nebula, click here.
For yet another version of this object taken with the Canon DIgital Rebel SLR, click here. 

Location: Eldorado Star Party 2004 near San Angelo, Texas
Date: October 15 , 2004
Seeing: 6/10
Transparency: 8/10
Equipment: Tak FSQ-106 on Tak NJP mount
Camera: SBIG STL-6303E, self-guided
Filter: Custom Scientific 4.5nm Hydrogen-Alpha spectral line filter
Exposure Info:  Grayscale - Ha filtered image -  80 minutes (10 minute sub-exposures) and five 30 second exposures for the central masks.  
Processing Info: Darks, deblooming, alignment, and Sigma combine in MaxIm 4.0.  Digital Development in MaxIm 4.0.    Separate mask from shorter exposures used to replace the burned-out core regions. Masked layers re-leveled and balanced to match in Photoshop CS.  Final smoothing and sharpening in Photoshop CS.

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