Imaged from Beckwith Township, Ontario, Canada.

The Orion Nebula a.k.a. The Great Nebula in Orion (Messier 42) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky even though it is 1344 light years away from Earth. It is a stellar nursery where new stars are being born.

Sh2-279 (alternatively designated S279 or Sharpless 279) includes a reflection nebula located in the constellation Orion. It is the northernmost part of the asterism known as Orion's Sword, lying 0.6° north of the Orion Nebula. The reflection nebula embedded in Sh2-279 is popularly known as the Running Man Nebula and has also been designated M43. Sh2-279 comprises three NGC nebulae, NGC 1973, NGC 1975, and NGC 1977 that are divided by darker nebulous regions. It also includes the open cluster NGC 1981.

Think Space is Clean? Think Again! Unmagnified; or even magnified, the area surrounding the nebulae looks "clean" In fact, space dust (interstellar dust) is pervasive; as can be clearly seen from this image.

Nikon D5300 (Full spectrum modified); Sky-Watcher ED80 Pro Refractor and a Tele Vue 0.8x Reducer/Flattener @ 480mm / f/6; ISO 400; Sky Watcher EQ6-R equatorial mount; guided with a 60mm guide scope; Altair GPCAM2 290M guide camera; and PHD2; 47 x 6 and 7 minute subs (total integration is 302 minutes or 5 hours and 2 minutes).

Shot in RAW; stacked using 64-bit Beta Deep Sky Stacker (with dark, flat; and bias/offset calibration frames); processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop CC.