NoelC
 | When energetic starlight hits regions of hydrogen gas the gas glows red. Sulfur and oxygen also glow deep red and teal, respectively. Sometimes starlight from bright stars reflects off interstellar dust, which disperses blue light best. All this multicolored light conspires to make this area one of the most beautiful parts of the Great Orion Nebula, which occupies almost the entire constellation. The leftmost (to northern hemisphere observers) belt star in Orion is the brightest star in this image, at the left center.
Astronomers are faced with accumulating enough photons to visualize incredibly dim objects under skies polluted with light from humans and crossed by satellites, while at the same time fighting with the limitations of modern imaging technology (hot pixels, thermal noise, data errors, etc.). Exposures can range from seconds to minutes to even hours in duration. One way to overcome the limitations and produce stunning imagery is to take many, many long exposures and use digital techniques to average out the noise and eliminate the aberrations.
This image represents more than 15 hours of accumulated exposure time by Greg over 3 years through two different telescopes, and nearly the same number of hours of image processing time on my part. It's an internet collaboration between Dr. Greg Parker of Hampshire, England and myself in Florida, USA.
We hope you enjoy it!
-Noel Carboni, Greg Parkerhey mods · » Thursday February 8th, @05:53PM
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Mantis44
 | Beyond amazing! Outstanding work. hey mods · » Thursday February 8th, @06:02PM
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Edit This
 | Profound.....mind blowing.....incredible. hey mods · » Thursday February 8th, @06:16PM
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Exit
 | You just blew my mind!!!!!!!!! hey mods · » Thursday February 8th, @06:32PM
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jaykaykay
 | I don't know what to say other than I am honored, personally, to have you post these magnificent images and give such education as you do. I am blown away by your work. hey mods · » Thursday February 8th, @07:54PM
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Skippy916
 | Beautiful hey mods · » Thursday February 8th, @08:08PM
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Leicafl
| I'm stunned almost beyond words!!! Been waiting a long time for your newest masterpiece! hey mods · » Thursday February 8th, @08:25PM
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robar
 | spectacular!! i got a 3'' reflector for xmas when i was 12. the next few years i wore out the the tube. i'm really happy now because i can go out and spot a lot of stars with names.. $$ for astronomy now kind of blocks my interest because i know what i'd be content with.. hey mods · » Thursday February 8th, @09:03PM
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rdavs
 | What everyone has said and a thousand times more! hey mods · » Thursday February 8th, @09:03PM
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JRSlater8
 | Wow! Very beautiful! hey mods · » Friday February 9th, @08:27AM
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zoommb
 | Noel:
There are just plain not enough superlative adjectives in my vocabulary to lavish on the work that you and Greg do.
If you have a 1920x1200 crop of this, may I have a copy to use as an alternate wallpaper to your moon?
Feel free to say no. I won't steal it. I realize that you two could make some money selling these images.
Thanks for sharing your work with us.hey mods · » Friday February 9th, @08:52AM
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HogRider
 | WOW. 3 thumbs up !!! hey mods · » Friday February 9th, @10:09AM
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TJ19971
 | What can one say? I am speechless. Thank you for sharing this with us!! hey mods · » Friday February 9th, @01:15PM
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NoelC
| Thanks everyone. It's our pleasure to bring these images to you. Here's a 1920 x 1200 version suitable for use as a desktop on a wide screen display.
»www.ourdarkskies.com/gal ··· 1200.jpg
-Noelhey mods · » Friday February 9th, @01:37PM
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kytyllen
 | Truly marvelous! Also, thank you so much for the new desktop:) hey mods · » Friday February 9th, @02:54PM
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jmn1207
 | Nebulosity...oh yes, it's a good time to be alive. :) hey mods · » Friday February 16th, @09:26PM
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Stooges Fan
 | Simply heavenly. hey mods · » Friday August 10th, @10:35AM
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