SH2-264 (Orion's Head )

This nebula is very large as seen in the 8 by 6 degree field of view, and it also is not as bright as it appears here, so a long exposure is needed to pick up the fainter area of the nebula. Also seen nearby on the right side is SH2-263, a small emission/reflection nebula. The nebula responds best to a hydrogen-alpha filter and can make a nice color HA-RGB image if you have enough of the RGB data to colorize it. A narrowband color filter may not work here because of the lack in OIII.

For a complete list of the Sharpless Catalog visit my main site at http://www.sharplesscatalog.com
Images by Dean Salman