The Great Orion Nebula

The Great Orion Nebula, a beautiful stellar nursery approximately 1345 light years away. 

This image was shot with a Rebel T3i with a 300mm lens, riding piggyback on a Meade LX50 telescope. Two images were used: an 11 second exposure to capture details in the center, and a 156 second exposure to capture the outer regions. Both shots were f/5.6 at ISO 800, then processed using Paint Shop Pro and Capture NX2. Enjoy!

..oh, and please click to view larger!

Ok.  You've got my mouth dropped open. 7 in my book all day.  Amazing results, Scott.

Thanks Wayne!!! :)

beautiful, interesting and intriguing! So well done! A question- does the camera capture the color or did you add it?

Thanks Gregory and Verena! The colours are naturally occurring, though I did slightly boost saturation. Hydrogen is red, oxygen blue-green.

Wow, from a 300mm lens - fantastic.  I' ve gotta try this.  One of the nicest images of the Orion nebula I've seen.  Clear, sharp, supberb colors.  Outstanding work. 

Thanks Charles! Good luck with your attempt! Cheers, Scott

Looks GREAT! Very good work.