The Horsehead and Flame nebulas

A dark cloud in the shape of a horse’s head set again a lane of red dust, with a bright start to its left. Below that bright star in the frame is the Flame Nebula, dark tendrils against a light orange/brown cloud reminiscent of flame.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the Orion area over the winters (one always tries to capture a better Orion Nebula, after all), but I’ve never spent much time tring to capture the Horsehead or Flame nebulas.

My worries were always that I don’t have enough H-alpha sensitivity, or I’m worried that Alnitak would overpower any sufficiently long exposure. Those were always poor excuses.

Well, I decided to try it as the first outing with my AT115EDT and Losmandy GM-8G. And boy did it go well! So well that I tried to get more exposure time in a second session.

Session	Exposure	Gain	Frames	Integration time
2023-02-14	60s	ISO 1600	30	30m
2023-03-15	60s	ISO 1600	40	40m
Total			70	70m

Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm f/7 ED Triplet Refractor w/ 0.8x Reducer/Flattener
Mount: Losmandy GM-8 German Equatorial Mount, Gemini 2, Losmandy FLW Tripod
Camera: Canon EOS 6D Mark II
Guider: Orion StarShoot Autoguider
Accessories: ZWO EAF Electronic Automatic Focuser, iOptron iPolar
Software: BackyardEOS, PHD2 Guiding, SkySafari Pro, AstroPixelProcessor, Topaz Photo AI, Capture One