The Orion Nebula has long been one of my favorite night sky objects – it’s easy to find in the Orion constellation (it’s the middle “star” in Orion’s sword) and interesting to look at. Because it’s a fuzzy object, it’s on Messier’s list of not-comets as M42. It’s a large region of hot gas and dust that is a stellar nursery – new stars are being created there!
While we were enjoying the dark skies in Dell City last month, I took this picture of it. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out, and it’s inspired me to try to get images of more nebulas. Stay tuned!
Camera geek info:
- Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/5.6, 30.0 second exposure, ISO 2000
- Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens, set at 300 mm, manual focus
- iOptron SkyTracker with ballhead
- Tripod
Space&Aliens 
During my star-watching days, before I moved to the city, the Orion nebula was one of my favorites. That, and the Pleiades. I loved trying to see how many of them I could pick out with my bare eyes.
Orion is definitely one of my favorites. I could see five Pleiades last night.
Wonderful!
Thanks!