Over Christmas night there were clear skies in Oklahoma and
I was able to try my hand at some real astrophotography. Messier objects are famous in the world of
amateur astronomy and make up the best examples of the five types of deep sky
objects (DSOs): diffuse nebulae, planetary nebulae, open clusters, globular
clusters and galaxies. The French
astronomer Charles Messier was a renowned comet hunter who was frustrated by
objects in the night sky that were not comets, so he made a list of everything
the he deemed a distraction. His catalog was completed in the late 1700s and contains over 100 astronomical
objects. The other night I took my first
pictures of M42 and M45.
M42 also known as the Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula in
the constellation Orion. After the Big
Dipper, it ranks as the second most distinctive constellation in the night
sky. During the winter Orion, the mythical
hunter, takes center stage in the southern skies. Orion’s belt is what allows the star group to
be so recognizable, nowhere else in the nights sky are three bright stars so
well aligned.
Orion’s Belt and the Orion Nebula (M42) shot on a tripod using
my Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, f/4.0, 15 sec, ISO 800 in
southern Oklahoma.
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My first photograph contains the lower half of the
constellation Orion. The three bright
stars in alignment seen in the upper left make up Orion’s belt. Where as the pink diffuse nebula in the
center is M42, also known as the Orion Nebula.
Close up of the Orion Nebula (M42) shot on a tripod using my
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, f/5.6, and 6.0 sec, ISO 1600
in southern Oklahoma.
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The pinkish blur in the center of Orion is the real
gem. M42 is so cool because it is in the
same arm as us in the Milky Way Galaxy but happens to be 1,344 light years
distant. This diffuse nebula is a
stellar nursery and is one of the best examples of star birth. Also, this stellar nursery is BIG, 24 light
years across big. The bright center
contains a very young open cluster, known as the Trapezium. This tight cluster of stars is responsible
for much of the illumination in the Nebula.
As a whole, M42 contains more than 2,000 stars. If you let your eyes adjust on a dark night
you should be able to see this great cloud of gas and dust with your naked eye.
The Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters (M45) shot on a tripod
using my Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, f/4.5, and 10.0 sec,
ISO 1600 in southern Oklahoma.
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Motion blur of the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters (M45) shot on a tripod
using my Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, f/4.0, and 15.0 sec,
ISO 1600 in southern Oklahoma.
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The cluster is roughly 16 light years in
diameter and contains over 1,000 confirmed stars. Forming within the last 100 million years it
is thought that the cluster was formed from a compact stellar cloud of gas and
dust similar to the Orion Nebula.
Located only a short 440 light years away we can expect to have a clear
view of this stellar wonder for another 250 million years before they rip
themselves apart under the force of their own gravity.
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