Photo of the Week for December 1, 2017
There’s so much nebulosity in this remarkable wide-field image of Orion by Quebec photographer Jean Guimond that at first it’s difficult to get one’s bearings. Rigel is the brightest star on the right half of the frame while the three belt stars are toward the top left. Now, can you identify the Orion Nebula (M42) and the tiny dark notch of the Horsehead Nebula? Also prominent on the left side of the picture is the big, curving arc known as Barnard’s Loop. The so-called Witch Head Nebula is the narrow, greyish cloud above and to the right of Rigel. And those are just the most famous features. As Jean dryly notes, “There’s a lot of colourful nebulae in that region.”
Jean recorded the photo’s 60, 1-minute exposures on October 22, 2017, at St-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud near Montmagny, Quebec. He used a Nikon D810A DSLR camera (set to ISO 2000) and a Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art lens at f/2, riding on a Vixen Polarie Star Tracker mount.
