Color NB

Tadpole Nebula – IC410

This is another attempt at the Tadpole Nebula, Sh2-236, in a bi-color HO narrowband image. You can easily find the two tadpoles that give rise to the name of this nebula. It belongs to one big emission complex together with the Flaming Star Nebula. This image is a narrowband composite using a total of 6 […]

Bubble Nebula – NGC7635

The Bubble Nebula, NGC 7635, part of a larger HII could, Sharpless 162, in the constellation Cassiopeia with the open cluster 52 in its neighborhood. The “bubble” is produced by the stellar winds from a massive young and hot star, SAO 20575, in its center. The bubble is embedded in a giant molecular cloud that […]

North America and Pelican Complex – Again

A new three-color narrowband version of the North America and Pelican Complex. Both nebulae belong to the same interstellar cloud of ionized hydrogen gas, but they are separated by a ragged lane of interstellar dust that absorbs their light. The North America (NGC7000) and the Pelican Nebula (IC5070) show rich and diverse structures filling the […]

Elephant’s Trunk Wide-Field

Yet another take of the Sh2-131 emission nebula in Cepheus with the embedded star cluster IC1396 and home to the famous Elephant’s Trunk Nebula VDB142. It is a large emissions nebula with stunning inlays of dust clouds absorbing most of the lights. The total size of the complex corresponds to about 10 times the full […]

NGC6888 – Crescent Nebula

The Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888, based on H and O narrowband data provided by Adam Jaffe via The Astro Imaging Channel. Exposure: HO (18,18) x 1800sec Date: 2018-07-16…2016-07-30 Data by Adam Jaffe The Astro Imaging Channel

Jones-Emberson 1 in RGB and HO

Jones-Emberson 1, also known as PK164+31.1, is a beautiful planetary nebula in the constellation Lynx. Some people also call it the headphone nebula for obvious reasons. It resulted from the collapse of a sun-like star that expelled its outer layers before collapsing to a white dwarf. The picture shows, both, the shells of gas expelled […]

Melotte 15 – Heart of the Heart Nebula

Melotte 15, a cluster of young super-giant stars in the heart of the heart nebula. The strong stellar winds from this cluster sculpture the gas clouds in their vicinity, creating pillars and cavities. A spectacular array of shapes and colors. This is a narrowband composite using more than 14 hours of data in Ha, OIII, […]

Pelican Nebula – NB vs. RGB

Two different perspectives on the head of the Pelican Nebula: false-color narrow band (above) and real color RGB (below). Both taken with the same setup, the new Astro-Physics 175 mm f/8 Starfire EDF at the Deep Sky West Observatory. Processing was very straight forward, no tricks necessary.   Exposure: HOS (13,5,10) x 1800sec LRGB (14,15,14,9) […]

Tadpole Nebula – Sh2-236

The Tadpole Nebula, Sh2-236, now in a bi-color HO narrowband image. You can easily find the two tadpoles that give rise to the name of this nebula. It belongs to one big emission complex together with the Flaming Star Nebula. Composed from over 9 hours of 10 min exposures with the Baader Ha and OIII […]

Rosette Nebula

The Rosette Nebula, a stunning emission nebula at the edge of a large molecular cloud in Monoceros, some 5000 light years away. Its flowery appearance is sculpted by the winds and radiation from its central cluster of hot young stars. This is a narrowband composite from (16,16,20) x 1800 sec exposures in Ha, OIII, and […]

Cygnus Loop in Bicolor

The complete Cygnus Loop or Veil Complex in a bicolor narrowband rendering. Recently, I posted a version of the same object taken during my summer vacation in the Mediterranean. I liked it, but was not perfectly happy with the raw data and the processing. So, back home I decided to do it again from scratch, […]

Great Cygnus Wall

The southern part of the North America Nebula, NGC7000, with a dramatic cloudy ridge also known as the Cygnus Wall – the most active star forming regions in the nebula. This image is composed of Ha, OIII, and SII frames with a total of 22 hours of exposure time. Exposure: HOS, (18,10,16) x 1800sec Date: […]