The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33 in emission nebula IC 434) is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion.[1] The nebula is located just to the south of the star Alnitak, which is farthest west on Orion's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 1500 light years from Earth. It is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of the shape of its swirling cloud of dark dust and gases, which is similar to that of a horse's head when viewed from Earth. The shape was first noticed in 1888 by Williamina Fleming on photographic plate B2312 taken at the Harvard College Observatory. (Wikipedia)

Taken on Christmas Night in 2011 from my front drive. Family had come and flown home earlier in the day, so since it was clear I took advantage of a nice night. I ran the camera on a battery that is nealry dead (now I know) and the cooling didn't work. Plus I lost my last 3 exposures due to bad noise. If the battery had allowed, I would have captured another 2 hours before sleeping. It came out pretty well as it is.

Details

Date: 12/25/2011
Scope: William Optics 80mm Fluorite Doublet @f5.5
Camera: SBIG ST8300M with Baader Ha Filter
Mount: Astro-Physics Mach1 GTO
Exposures: 8 x 15 minutes
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS3