Astrophoto: Just in Time for Halloween: Orion's Bloody Massacre

By Nancy Atkinson - October 29, 2012 at 1:26 PM UTC | Observing
m42.jpg

The Orion Nebula, or M42 in a hybrid image of old DSLR data with new CCD images. Credit: .

This view of the Orion Nebula makes it appear as a bloody mess!

Astrochuck on Flickr

said he's been socked in with clouds and rain lately so took this opportunity to combine some older DSLR data with new CCD observations to create this stunning view of M42. Here are the specs:

QHY9M & Orion ED102CF refractor 10/21/2012 & 10/22/2012 L- 7x600 R-3x600 G-3x600 B-3x600 (5x2 seconds for the core area)

3/22/12 Canon T3 w/Astronomik Ha filter & ST-80T refractor 5x120,10x300,5x600 @iso 1600 6x60 w/crosshairs for diffraction spikes

Images acquired,aligned and stacked with Nebulosity V2.0, Guiding with Orion 50mm mini guider,SSAG and Phd. Combined & post processed with PS6 and StarTools.

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you're giving us permission to post them). Please explain what's in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com