IC 426, Reflection Nebula in Orion |
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| Located about 1 degree north of Epsilon Orionis
(the middle star of Orion's belt) lies this interesting little
reflection nebula, IC 426, also cataloged as LBN 921, located at
RA 05h 36m 30s Declination -00°18'. I stumbled upon this object when I was
looking for other targets in the vicinity (IC 423 and IC 424). I
bypassed those targets for want of a suitable guide star for the
equipment I was using. In IC 426's case, not only was there a
suitable guide star, but the nebula itself is pretty
interesting! I don't see much written about this nebula other than that it is a bright reflection nebula. There are also very few amateur images of this object, which raised my interest in it. Being a reflection nebula, it is not shining from atoms excited by radiation from nearby stars. Rather, it is reflecting light from the stars around it. And much like our Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light, making our sky blue, this nebula shows off a distinct bluish hue. There are also few professional images of this object, among them this one taken by a professional telescope at Mauna Kea. As the write-up in that web site says, this cloud of gas and dust boasts a concentration of 10 billion molecules per cubic meter, which is still one trillionth the density of Earth's atmosphere. Still, the density of this cloud is high enough that with enough of a push from some future supernova or other external force, stars could be born within it some day. The quaint extension streaming from the nebula reminds me a bit of a caricature of Jimmy "The Schnozzola" Durante. So as a tribute to the man, I say "Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!" |
| Constellation: Orion |
| When Visible: December - April |
| Distance: 1,500 Light-years |
| Date: December 10, 2009 - December 17, 2009 |
| Location: New Mexico Skies, Mayhill, NM |
| Exposure Details:
L: 24 x 15 Minutes Binned 1x1 R: 13 x 15 Minutes Binned 1x1 G: 13 x 15 Minutes Binned 1x1 B: 13 x 15 Minutes Binned 1x1 |
| Equipment Used: 10" RCOS Ritchey-Cretien on a Paramount ME. SBIG ST-10XME with 5-position filter wheel and Astrodon HaLRGB filters. AO-8 adaptive optics unit. Guided using the camera's built-in guide chip and AO-8 unit. |
| Acquisition Software: MaximDL, TheSky6, ACP |
| Processing Software: MaximDL, Photoshop CS, IrFanView, Noel Carboni Actions |