The constellation of Orion dominates the winter sky, but beyond its bright stars lie vast clouds of glowing gas and intricate streams of interstellar dust. This wide-field view reveals the region’s famous nebulae, from the pinkish glow of hydrogen emission to the dark, dusty filaments sculpting the landscape. Orion’s Belt and Sword are immersed in these star-forming clouds, home to stellar nurseries where massive young stars light up their surroundings.

This image was captured from Starfront Observatories, Texas, using a William Optics Redcat 51 III wide-field refractor and a ZWO ASI2600MM camera on a ZWO AM5 mount. A set of ZWO LRGB and Antlia 3nm narrowband filters was employed to reveal both faint dust and ionized gas across the field. The integration time totaled 21.5 hours, recorded over multiple sessions in September 2025, producing a richly detailed portrait of Orion’s rising glow.