No, the Lion is in Cepheus, a different constellation entirely. I don't see a horsehead in your photo -- maybe a scottish terrier. MPD On Wed, Apr 17, 2024 at 12:51 PM Perry Persoff <pepersoff@hotmail.com> wrote: > Awesome as usual. Now here's a question to give those of you more > knowledgeable a hearty laugh...but here goes anyway. Is the Horsehead > Nebula within the Lion Nebula? Before I recognized "the Lion," I saw what > looked like a horsehead within. > > Just tossing that out there, > > Perry. > > Not a nebula, but the "horsehead" of the Middlesex Fells > in Medford, MA, Earth, Jan 2013. Long gone by now, > thanks to the elements over the years... > ------------------------------ > *From:* Michael Deneen <michael.patrick.deneen@gmail.com> > *Sent:* Wednesday, April 17, 2024 12:26 PM > *To:* photo <photo@lists.gaac.us> > *Cc:* Fritz Boettger <fritzdekatt@gmail.com>; Alan Winter < > winterboy76@gmail.com> > *Subject:* [Astro] Two New Images from Phil Orbanes > > Phil has sent us a photo of the Trapezium region in M42 (the Orion > Nebula), and another of the Lion Nebula, Sh2-132 in Cepheus. You can see > them here <https://gaac.us/gallery-2/phil2/>, the last two images at the > bottom; both will reward enlarging. Phil's notes follow: > > Trapezium Region: > > "This highly magnified close-up of the Trapezium (on the left side of the > image) and the nearby region of M42 is only possible because of > BlurXTerminator (and photographing M42 for 40+ hours a few years back). > > > "Previously, enlarging an image like this one ran the risk of exposing > unattractive defects and noise. Now, an amateur with patience and a > reasonable scope can exceed the detail captured by really big telescopes > only some years ago. > > > "The dark irregular regions in this photo are Bok globules, which are > small interstellar clouds of very cold gas and dust, so thick they are > almost totally opaque to visible light. Stars form protodisks in these > regions, which will in turn create planets. As can be seen, the heart of > M42 is very fertile ground for new solar systems. > > > Lion Nebula: > > "The May issue of S&T contained a handsome photo of the Lion Nebula. It > reminded me that I had worked on this one years ago. > > > "So I added more narrowband images and used BlurXTerminator to sharpen it > and pinpoint the background stars in Cepheus. > > > "Sh2-132 is large, about 1.5 degrees per side, and 10,000+ light years > away. > > It does look like a lion with something in its "mouth." My wife Anna > thinks that something is a visual of its roar. I think it looks like its > next meal. > > > "This picture is a composite of both a wide-field image, taken with my 5" > refractor, and a close-up of its core, taken with my 14" reflector. I used > both narrowband and RGB filters, and by intent processed it vividly." > > >