IC-434 Horsehead Nebula in Orion
    Constellation:  Orion

    Size:  90 x 14 arcmin

    Magnitude: Dark 

    RA:  05h 40m 40s

    Dec: -02 d 27m 0s
The Horsehead Nebula is very difficult to see in amateur scopes.  It is a dark object against a low contrast background.  I was unsuccessful attempting to view it with a 10" reflector, even at a dark sky location.  The images here were taken from a suburban location 20 miles west of Wash DC.  Thus, very long exposure times were needed to bring out the dark horsehead against the brighter background.   The images taken with the MX-5C have been rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise so the north is towards the left of the image.  The megastar screen capture above and the film image show the correct orientation.

 
 
 
Scope:   Nikon 28 mm Lens
Kodak Tri-X ISO 400
Focal Ratio: f3.5
Exposure:  1 min

Not the best image of the Horsehead Nebula, but it illustrates how dim the object is.  A forty min exposure on ISO 800 film just barely registers it.  This is the correct orientation w/ North at the top of the image.

 Scope:   8" LX 200 SCT
Nikon w/ Kodak MAX 800
Focal Ratio: f10
Exposure:  Two 20 minute exposures combined in MaxIm DL

Yes, it is possible to image IC 434 with a 90 mm scope.

 Scope:  90 mm Orion MAK 500
M-5C CCD Camera
Focal Ratio: f5.5
Exposure:  An Average of 3 1-hour exposures 
Scope:   8" LX 200 SCT
MX-5C CCD Camera & STAR 2000
Focal Ratio: f3.3
Exposure:  80 minutes
Scope:   8" LX 200 SCT
MX-5C CCD Camera
Focal Ratio: f4.6
Exposure:  Two 1-hour Exposures Combined
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