There are a few nebulas in this photo – but the two biggies are Horse Head and Flame Nebula (yellowish one).

Horse Head is a small dark nebula (gas cloud too dense to allow light through it) that looks like… well… a horse head on the bright emission nebula IC434 (red). This nebula is a mere 1500 light years from earth and is in the constellation Orion. It was first photographed in 1888 by a Scottish astronomer. The Flame Nebula is another emission nebula in Orion and is a little closer at 1350 light years away and is the home for newly created stars.

These two nebula are a little wide for my camera/telescope combination but I tried to frame it so most of both would be seen. This is 33 x 300 second exposures (2:15 in total time) taken the first week of December.

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