M42 and M43 are The Jewels in Orions Sword

This was taken using a 100 mm lens..which, on my nikon D3500 is the equivalent of 150 mm......i was lucky enough to capture a falling star in one of the shots....which, didn't make it here because of sizing-viewing issues....
.... Back in 1758 Charles Messier started looking for comets....namely Halleys Comet...using a telescope with a mere 100 mm lens ..and in doing so became hooked on astronomy ...in that journey he observed 110 deep space objects......all in about 26 years, yeah, it took a while.... Sooo, all of those 110 deep space objects he catalogued bear an M followed by a number, such as M42 and M43.
.....In the middle of the sword lies M43, it is the red spiked star ...and the red gaseous nebula beneath M43 is M42....They are both quite observable with binoculars on a clear night...Just look for Orions belt and you will see the 3 stars which form the sword....Honestly, it kinda looks like a little heart with a sword running through it....
image 5427
Orions Sword and Nebula 6 red
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