Messier 42 (Orion Nebula) Cherry Springs State Park, PA March 14, 2026
The Orion Nebula, under Bortle 4 skies
First light on the RedCat 71 after a long winter of cloud-outs. Drove three hours to Cherry Springs for one clear night — and got it. The Trapezium cluster’s four bright stars resolved cleanly and the Running Man (NGC 1977) is sitting quietly up top. Proud of this one.
Exposure · Sky
subs 120 × 180s total 6h 00m gain/temp 100 · −10°C bortle 4 ra / dec 05h 35m 17.3s / −05° 23′ 28″
Processing notes
Stacked in Siril, stretched with GHS, star reduction in PixInsight, final levels in Photoshop.