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Kfir Simon | all galleries >> Galleries >> nebulae > The Flame nebula and friends
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27-MAR-2012

The Flame nebula and friends

The Flame Nebula, designated as NGC 2024 and Sh2-277, is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion.
It is about 900 to 1,500 light-years away.
The bright star Alnitak (ζ Ori), the easternmost star in the Belt of Orion, shines energetic ultraviolet light into the Flame and this knocks electrons away from the great clouds of hydrogen gas that reside there.
Much of the glow results when the electrons and ionized hydrogen recombine.
Additional dark gas and dust lies in front of the bright part of the nebula and this is what causes the dark network that appears in the center of the glowing gas.
The Flame Nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, a star-forming region that includes the famous Horsehead Nebula (WIKI)

Some other Nebulae:
NGC 2023 in the middle right
IC 435 - Blue reflection Nebula at lower right
IC 431 & IC 432 Blue reflection Nebulae at the upper left


Imaged with Boren-Simon 10" F/2.8 POWERNEWT Astrograph.
SBIG ST8300M camera with FW5 filterwheel and BAADER HA-LRGB filters.

L = 35 minutes
RGB = 6 minutes each (BIN 2x2)= 18 minutes.
Total of 53 minutes.

Imaged from the NEGEV desert in ISRAEL


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