A panoramic view Including the very familiar three bright stars of Orion’s belt (to the left of the image), Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Part of the Orion Molecular Cloud and two of the most recognizable sky objects in the constellation Orion, these immense stellar nurseries are approximately 1500 light years distant “The Great Orion Nebula and The Horsehead Nebula”.
This is data I captured in January, February and early March 2014 over 8 nights using a QHY11S Monochrome CCD/Takahashi E-80 F2.8 from Downunder Observatory in Fremont MI.
190 individual exposures make up this 5 panel mosaic for a Total Exposure time of 11 hours
Terry Hancock