The sword of Orion in a 3 panel mosaic

mage Title: The sword of Orion in a 3 panel mosaic

Copyright: (C) Jeroen Moonen

Date image was taken: January 11, 2024

Location: Oisterwijk, The Netherlands, backyard observatory "Videre Videnda"

Image Description and Details: During the winter of 2017/2018 I started with shooting just the Horsehead Nebula, not the complete mosaic. Due to bad weather for several months I was unable to finish. So I took another go the next winter in 2018/2019. I realized that I also could include M42 if I would make it a 3 panel mosaic. At the beginning of march 2019 I ended up with some 56 hours of data (R, G, B and Ha) but after reviewing this I was only able to use some 48 hours of it. After several attempts to stitch the frames together I alway ended up with a visible seem between the panel with M42 and de middle one. Last month I decided to shoot extra frames covering half the panel of M42 and half of the one in the middle, ending up with a total of over 51 hours of data. Looks like the seem is gone! Total integration times (3 and 5 minutes exposures in RGB and 10 minutes in Ha): R 9:44 - G 8:47 - B 10:14 - Ha 22:20.

Equipment Details: SW Esprit APO 80 mm F5, SX filter wheel with Baader filters, OAG with Lodestar, SW EQ8. Guiding with PHD, acquisition Sequence Generator Pro (2018/2019) and N.I.N.A. (2024). Fully processed in Pixinsight.