Great Orion Nebula M42

I managed to get outside again last night and try out my focal reducer and 40mm Antares eyepiece for the first time. The Orion Nebula was a good choice to view as now the whole nebula was visible in the eyepiece by using the focal reducer which reduced the focal length to f6.3 from f10.

The Orion Nebula M42 can be found beneath Orion’s belt (which is the three angled horizontal type stars) .

The Great Orion nebula is situated at the middle of the three smaller vertical stars underneath the belt.

The Great Orion nebula is situated in what is known as the hilt of Orion’s sword.

The diagram is taken from Starry Night Pro.

I then used my Canon DSLR at prime focus to take the two photographs below, both were at ISO800 and both were at varying exposure times, both around the 15 second mark.

I was very happy with the focal reducer and the 40mm eyepiece and can’t wait to use them on the moon.