Object Information                                            Imaging Details

One of the most photogenic objects in the night sky is the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae (IC 434 and NGC 2024, respectively). The Horsehead gets its shape from a distinctively-shaped dark nebule that lies in front of a large diffuse (emission) nebula. The Flame Nebula is illuminated by Alnitak, the leftmost star of Orion's belt.

The Horsehead Nebula is only visible in a large aperture telescope under very dark skies and using a nebular filter (H-beta). In order to see the Flame Nebula, observers should try to block out the intense light from Alnitak. The nebula can then be seen as a faint bit of nebulosity.

This image was taken in January, 2006 from my back yard in Las Cruces. This was the first image that I took with my Williams Optics field flattener. Distortion that I had been experiencing in the corners of my images was virtually eliminated.

Clicking the above image will bring up a higher resolution image. Clicking on the map gives a more detailed map of the region.

Telescope:

Orion ED80