One of my first succesful astro photos, this was taken in September of 2008 on the same night as the Orion Nebula photo.

The Horsehead is a "dark nebula", meaning that the shape we see is formed by clouds of dust blocking light from behind it. It is located in the constellation Orion. The two brightest stars seen here are the left side of Orion's belt. It is about 1,500 light years from Earth.

The Flame Nebula is part of the same larger structure as the Horsehead, but it emits light from ionized hydrogen gas energized by the nearby star, Alnitak.

Scope: William Optics Megrez 90 w/Televue 0.8X reducer/flattener

Mount: Losmandy GM-8

Guiding: Meade DSI Pro and PHD Guiding

Guide Scope: Orion ST80

Camera: Canon XT

Exposure: 10 x 120s one-shot color (20 mins total)