That's pretty amazing.

Very interesting shot and one not easy to get I'm sure. I assume this was done through a telescope? If so, what size lens and magnification? How did you set up your camera to work through the eye piece? I used to do a lot of star gazing through our old telescope but I never figured otu how to take pictures through the eye piece.

This image is taken through a telescope. The camera is a Canon 20D with a T-ring adaptor attached to the eye piece holder of the telescope. The telescope is a 10 inch Schmidt Cassegrain type scope manufactured by Meade. Check it out if you are interested. It is a little pricey to get to the point of doing astrophotography, and a lot of work, but it is "very" satisfying. Setting up the scope and getting the picture is hard enough, but pulling the image out of the digital output of a camera can be more so. Regarding these images, directly from the camera they look like a large orange ball with a white patch in the center. The 20 images are stacked (layered) and cropped and the levels are tweeked significantly. The most difficult part is to not saturate the bright whites. There are 4 stars in the center called Trapezium 1 thru 4. They are very bright and unfortunately saturated from the originals, so they cannot be viewed in this image. A lap top, the goto controls of the scope and a second piggy backed scope with a small CCD camera lock the main scope onto the target while the camera is exposed to the light.

lot of work here. you did good

Wow I had no idea Space photography was so complicated, really cool capture you've shared with us, thanks for your hard work!

Very cool. Something I have got to try before I'm 40! ;']

Great shot - space is a fascinating subject...

Love your shots! How can one critique such beauty and wonder? Not to mention the hard work behind the shot! Beautiful.