Superimposed on IC434 is the famous dark nebula, the Horsehead, which resembles a side view of its namesake. This object is difficult to photograph due to its faintness and proximity to Zeta Orionis off to the left in this image with north in that direction. This is one of the very few nebula in the entire sky that is best seen with the Hbeta filter visually. Seeing was very poor and the stars are a bit enlarged here.

Instrument:  12.5" f/5 Home made Newtonian
Platform:  Astrophysics 1200 QMD
CCD Camera:  SBIG ST7E w/Enhanced Cooling
Exposure:  LRGB = 60:20:20:36 (RGB Binned 2x2)
Filters:  RGB Tricolor
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing FMHW = 2.7 arcsec, Transparency 8/10
Outside Temperature:  15 C
CCD Temperature:  -25 C
Processing:  Maxim DL, Photoshop, AIP4WIN, PW Pro.