Orion Nebula

About the object

The Great Orion Nebula, the brightest and best-known nebula in the sky, visible to the eye as a fuzzy star in Orion's sword. It is the nearest large star-forming region to us: at its heart lies the Trapezium, four young hot stars that light up and inflate the cloud of gas. Next to it, separated by a dark lane of dust, is the smaller nebula M43. Stars are being born here right now, and the frame shows cocoons around the youngest of them.

Distance: about 1,300 light-years, apparent size in the sky: 85′ × 60′, constellation Orion.

How it was shot

Everything here was shot with a DWARF Mini smart telescope from a balcony in a city in Ukraine: light-polluted sky, only the eastern half of it visible, and a roof overhang that cuts off the south. 3 nights (all in September), 3 sessions, 395 frames with exposures of 15 and 60 s, a dual-band Hα/OIII filter that passes only the glow of hydrogen and oxygen and blocks most of the city light pollution. The stack holds 2 h 14 min of light; the longest night, 16 September, gave 1 h. The goal for this object is 1 h 30 min, and it is reached. First night 13 September 2026, last one 19 September 2026.

Orion Nebula in the night log: 12 September, 16 September, 18 September.

How it went

Orion is so bright that the main problem is not gathering light but not clipping the core. So the series used two exposures: 60 seconds for the outer wings and 15 seconds to keep the Trapezium. Three nights gave more than two hours of light, and stacking all frames together in the cloud cut the background noise by about one and a half times. In winter, when Orion climbs higher, the long series can be extended.