This image represents my first attempt at photographing this famous region near Alnitak, the bright, very hot, left-most star in Orion's belt. Alnitak is the bright star on the left side of this image.

Below Alnitak in this photo is the "Flame Nebula", NGC 2024. It is a region of glowing gas, excited by the tremendous energy of nearby Alnitak, and partially obscured by lanes of dark dust that produce the impression of a candle flame.

To the right of Alnitak is the red, glowing cloud of gas known as IC 434, which is partially obscured by a column of dark dust whose shape resembles the head of a horse - this is the famous Horsehead Nebula, also known as Barnard 33.

Below and to the left of the Barnard 33 is a young star shrouded in a cloud of gas known as NGC 2023. This reflection nebula results from molecular hydrogen gas ionized by that young star.

This region of the winter sky in the vicinity of the constellation Orion is fascinating visually and photographically, with some easy targets such as M42, the great Orion Nebula, and more difficult objects like the Horsehead Nebula. I took this photo in December 2006 or January 2007 with an unmodified Canon Digital Rebel XT body attached to an eight inch newtonian reflector. It is actually a composite of several images. Unfortunately I lost the original images along with the date and exposure information due to a computer problem. I look forward to trying again when Orion comes around again later this year.