IC434: The Nebula Behind the Horsehead

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Image © 2022 — 2023 Jeremy Likness. All rights reserved.
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Image © 2022 — 2023 Jeremy Likness. All rights reserved.
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Although we tend to refer to IC434 as the Horsehead Nebula, it's actually an emission nebula hidden behind the Horsehead nebula. The latter is made up of dark dust that is illuminated by the former. This framing honors the beauty and grace of the horse's silhouette, but I'm working on a mosaic that captures the broader area to include the Flame Nebula (NGC2024).

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Telescope:   Stellina
Length:   400mm
Aperture:   80mm
F-stop:   f/5.0
Sessions:   4
Captured:   2021-03-31 to 2021-11-01
Lights:   600
Exposure:   10
Total exposure:   1 h
Ra:   5h 40m 53.1s
Dec:   -2° 25' 44.615
Size:   44.598 x 35.065 arcmin
Radius:   0.473 deg
Scale:   0.412 arcsec/pixel

Related images:

I have a lot of images that target this nebula, but this is a favorite of mine. I processed it with the goal of preserving as much detail in the dusty foreground as possible.
I spent several evenings imaging this target to bring out the detail that surrounds the horse, including wispy filaments of interstellar dust and the rippling red curtain behind it.
An Optolong L-Extreme filter helped bring out the rich red that gives this deep sky object the lesser known name of Flame Nebula.
To bring in 2023, I took a high resolution of NGC2023, an often overlooked nebulae that sprawls just beneath the famous Horsehead nebula (IC434.
A black and white image of the Horsehead nebula and nearby NGC2023.

Objects in frame:

IC434 NGC2023 Flame Nebula Orion B
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The Horse and the Flame »