Miguel Claro is an expert photographer, writer and science communicator primarily based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular photos of the evening sky. As a European Southern Observatory Photo Ambassador and member of The World At Night and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he makes a speciality of astronomical “Skyscapes” that join each Earth and the evening sky.
This deep view of the Orion Constellation glows in reddish hues due to a filtered view of hydrogen alpha emission, a kind of sunshine emitted by hydrogen atoms.
The massive, intricate semi-circle across the three stars that make up Orion’s belt is named Barnard’s Loop (Sh2-276), a nebula about 1,600 light-years away that itself spans some 300 light-years throughout. Barnard’s Loop is a part of the even greater Orion molecular cloud complicated, made up of mud, hydrogen and helium, and is the birthplace of stars.
I at all times needed to make a picture like this one which exhibits all the attractive reddish hydrogen that surrounds some of the spectacular and colourful areas of your entire evening sky as seen from Earth. This cloud accommodates recognized wonders like M42, Horse Head, LDN 1622, the massive Lambda Orionis Ring and the bluish (OIII) Witch Head Nebula, near Rigel star.
I had my arrange for this shot (Samyang 35mm f1.8 with Poseidon C Professional) accessible and ready for 2 months earlier than Orion cooperated. This picture was a bit difficult to seize, resulting from uncooperative climate and the truth that the Orion constellation was starting to set early alongside the western horizon.
I solely had 40 minutes accessible for every clear evening between February and March 2025 as seen from the Darkish Sky Alqueva Reserve in Portugal, so accumulating the seven hours of knowledge in complete for this picture took many nights. Had I taken it to start with of winter, I may have taken it in a single evening. I hope you benefit from the end result.
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