The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33) is a dark nebula about 1500 light-years away. In my image it appears to the right of the blue supergiant star Alnitak, which is the third of three stars that form Orion’s Belt. Just below Alnitak is the Flame Nebula. The Horsehead Nebula is very recognizable because it resembles a horse’s head and lies in the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. It was first recorded in 1888 by astronomer Williamina Fleming at the Harvard Observatory.

Technical Information       

Date:              December, 2014
Location:        Green Valley, Arizona
Telescope:      Takahashi FSQ-106EDX
Camera:         SBIG STT-8300M
Filters:            Astrodon Gen 2
Mount:            AstroPhysics 1200
Exposure:       HaLRGB = 12:2:2:2:2 hours respectively, all unbinned
Software:        Acquisition: Maxim DL 5, TheSkyX, Pinpoint, CCD Commander
                       Processing: CCDStack, PhotoShop CS6 with various plugins