IC 434 is the (not very) bright nebula which is the background to B33, the Horsehead Nebula. The Flame Nebula is to the west of Alnitak (ζ orionis)
Move your mouse over the picture to identify the main features.
This is the region just south of Alnitak, the left-hand star in Orion's belt. IC 434 is the large, triangular, but rather dim, spread of nebulosity from Alnitak (the bright star at the top) southwards. The picture also includes the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024), which is the complex nebula to the west (left) of Alnitak.
The halos around the two brightest stars are undoubtedly an artifact, caused, maybe, by reflections within the lens (or possibly the filter).
Date and Time: 4th January 2010 00:19 to 00:41 UT
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX719
Telescope: 135 mm SLR lens with Astromomik Hα filter
Capture: Startlight star_mx7, 13 2-minute exposures
Processing: Starlight star_mx7: auto-background, non-linear stretch factor 25, auto-background.
Irfanview: conversion to png.
RegiStax5: 11 frames stacked, wavelets 1 - 2 = 5, gamma 1.3, histogram 15-255
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