Deep Wide View of Orion Constellation Immersed in a Giant Reddish Cloud of Hydrogen
Alqueva´s Dark Sky Reserve | By Year: 2025 | Deep Sky Wide Field
The image features an HaRGB deep wide view of Orion Constellation immersed in the reddish hues from hydrogen alpha emission, where the larger semi-circle (Sh2-276) that stands around the belt and sword of Orion, also known as Barnard’s Loop, is shiningly visible like a dense intricate wave across the scene. Located at a distance of 1600 light-years away, the entire loop spans at about 300 light-years across in space and belongs to an even bigger Molecular Cloud of dust and gas, made up of molecular hydrogen and helium. These clouds are the birth place for stars, forming out of the material in the cloud. I always wanted to make an image like that showing all the beautiful reddish hydrogen that is surrounding one of the most spectacular and colourful regions of the entire night sky as seen from Earth, comprising known wonders like M42, Horse Head, LDN 1622, the large Lambda Orionis Ring and the bluish (OIII) Witch Head Nebula, close to Rigel star. As I only had the particular setup (Samyang 35mm f1.8 with Poseidon C Pro) available and prepared for this target two months before Orion constellation starts to set early against the western horizon and weather was not collaborating too, Orion was almost setting from our Observatory at Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal, which made a bit challenging to get this image done. Basically I only had 40 minutes of available sky for each clear night between February and March 2025, so to collecting 7h of good data it took me several nights which I could do it in one single night if it was done in the beginning of Winter. But here it is and I hope you enjoy the result.
PT: A imagem revela um campo amplo e profundo de HaRGB imerso nos tons avermelhados da emissão hidrogénio-alfa, onde parte do semicírculo maior (Sh2-276) que fica ao redor do cinturão e da espada de Orion, também conhecido como Loop de Barnard, é visível brilhando como uma onda densa e intrincada que atravessa toda a imagem. Localizado a uma distância de 1.600 anos-luz de distância, todo o Loop se estende por cerca de 300 anos-luz de diâmetro no espaço e pertence a uma Nuvem Molecular ainda maior de poeira e gás, composta de hidrogénio molecular e hélio. Estas nuvens são o local de nascimento de estrelas, formando-se a partir do material presente na nuvem. Desde há muito tempo que sonhei em captar uma imagem como esta, mostrando todo incrível hidrogénio avermelhado que envolve uma das regiões mais espetaculares e coloridas de todo o céu noturno, visto a partir da Terra, abrangendo algumas pérolas celestes bem conhecidas do grande público como a M42, Cabeça de Cavalo, LDN 1622, o grande Anel Lambda Orionis e a nebulosa azulada (OIII) Cabeça de Bruxa, situada junto à estrela Rigel. Como só tinha a configuração específica que usei (Samyang 35mm f1.8 com a Poseidon C-Pro) disponível e preparada para este alvo dois meses antes da constelação de Orion começar a pôr-se no horizonte Oeste e o bom tempo não colaborou muito, Orion já estava quase a pôr-se a partir do nosso Observatório no Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal, o que tornou um pouco desafiante fazer esta imagem. Basicamente, só tive 40 minutos de céu disponível para cada noite limpa entre Fevereiro e Março de 2025. Assim, para recolher 7 horas de dados, demorei várias noites, o que conseguiria fazer numa única noite se a imagem tivesse sido feito no início do Inverno. Mas aqui fica o resultado e espero que gostem!
Above: Crop and rotated image, as well as the monochromatic starless view of Ha channel. Right image shows the annotated version produced with PixInsight script, based in several known catalogues to identify the main objects in the image. Below there is the portrait version.
PT: Acima: Um crop da imagem, com rotação, e uma versão monocromática sem estrelas do canal Ha separado. A imagem da direita mostra a versão legendada com anotação produzida pelo script do PixInsight baseado em vários catálogos reconhecidos, identificando assim os principais objectos visíveis na imagem. Em baixo, a versão retrato da mesma imagem.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
Omegon 76ED Apo triplet on a EQ6-Pro auto-guided in N.I.N.A | Poseidon-C Pro Camera from Player One Astronomy | Sub Exp. 5 min with Anit-Halo PRO Dual-Band Filter 2″ (Ha+OIII) 3nm from Player One Astronomy | Total integration of 8h (7,3 in HaOIII + 0,5 h in RGB). Processing on PixInsight 1.9.3 and Photoshop CC 2025. Cumeada Observatory from Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal.
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