M42 and M43
Great Orion Nebula and De Mairan’s Nebula

10.1″ f/4.5, Mallincam DS432cTEC with 0.5 focal reducer
Exposures = 2-12-22-22 sec, Live Stacked frames = 15-15-15-45 (90 total), Gain = 2-2-2-6 of 250

The Great Orion Nebula M42 is most of what we see here in this image, with the exception of the upside-down “comma” shaped nebula at the top which is M43 De Mairan’s Nebula. A multitude of pink and red hues dominate the colours, with tinges of grey-blue associated mainly with the “wings” of the nebula and more diffuse regions. According to Wikipedia, the red colouration is associated to Hydrogen-alpha radiation while the blue-violet is reflected radiation from the massive O-class stars at the core of the nebula. Dark brown obscuring material can also be see in between M42 and M43. At the center of M42’s core lies the Trapezium, 4 tightly-packed stars powering the nebula.

M42 spans about 45 arcminutes in this image; in reality it is about 1300 light years away and approximately 24 light years across.

This image was composed in Affinity Photo by layering a shorter live stack (15 frames at 2 sec Gain 2) as a luminosity mask with the full stack indicated above. This reduced the brightness of the central core area to reveal the Trapezium.

North at 1 o’clock, East at 10 o’clock