Astrophotography Highlight: Orion’s Belt
This is Alnitak, the left-hand star of Orion’s Belt, captured alongside two of the night sky’s most famous nebulae: the Flame Nebula and the Horsehead Nebula. These remarkable features lie hundreds of light-years from Earth and are part of an active region of star formation.
This photograph was taken using the school’s telescope and a single 300-second exposure through a Hydrogen Alpha filter, which allows glowing hydrogen gas within the nebulae to be revealed in striking detail. We are very pleased with the performance of the telescope during this session. While a few technical challenges remain, the most pressing issue was identified and resolved on Thursday, marking an encouraging step forward for future observations.
David Gorton – Head of Campus (Staughton Vale)
