Orion in a Dark Sky

Big Shoals State Park, North Florida

Lat. 30° 20' 20.1" N, Long. 82° 42' 46.7" W, Elev. abt. 120 ft. (36 m)

2014 March 1, 10:10: p.m. EST (March 2, 03:10 UT)

BEFORE LOOKING AT LABELED VERSION SEE WHAT YOU CAN YOU FIND
Put cursor over image for labeled version including enlarged section with Orion Nebula
(or click photo for largest available size: 2700x1800 pix)
  • Constellation of Orion, Its Belt and Betelgeuse
    (Notice orangey color of Betelgeuse, a cool supergiant)
  • Sirius in Canis Major (Easy since brightest nighttime star)
  • Orion Nebula (Easily Seen)
  • Flame Nebula (Fairly Easy. Hint: To upper left of Alnitak, leftmost star in Orion's Belt)
  • Horsehead Nebula (Hint: Below Alnitak but very difficult since small and faint)
    (Even in labeled version with enlarged section—small and just barely visible)
  • Three Open Star Clusters (very small at this scale)
    • M41 (Hint: On lower left border below Sirius)
    • NGC 2244 or Caldwell Cluster in Rosette Nebula though nebula not visible
      (Hint: Center of top edge)
    • M50 (Hint: Top left, above Sirius)
  • Narrow, Red Aircraft Trail (Hint: Approximately horizontal in upper part of photo)
  • Telescope Dew Cap (Nearly hides Rigel in Orion)
(Limiting magnitude or faintest visible star is about mag. +12 to +13)



Photo Details Camera: Canon DSLR EOS 5D II on a driven mount (unguided) with 50mm, f/1.8 lens.
Exposure: 120 sec at f/3.5 (ISO Equiv. 1600). Frame slightly cropped from original. Processed in Corel PaintShop Pro X5.
(Fan shaped or comet shaped star images in corners result from comatic aberration of lens)
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Images © 2004–2014 H.L. Cohen
Email Cohen followed by @astro.ufl.edu
Last updated 2014 March 1