The Rosette Nebula in SHO

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The Rosette Nebula in SHO

The Rosette Nebula is a large, circular emission nebula located in the constellation Monoceros, roughly 5,200 light-years from Earth. It's an enormous cloud of gas and dust, spanning about 130 light-years in diameter. This nebula is part of a larger region of star formation and contains a young open cluster of stars known as NGC 2244. The radiation from these stars causes the surrounding hydrogen gas to glow, creating the nebula's vibrant appearance. Its visual beauty and complex structure make it the universe's amazing work of art.

The main image was taken over many nights in-between dodging winter storms. A total of 15 hours all of which were a mixture of20 minute, 10 minute and *30 seconds (*to capture the colour of the stars) exposure sub frames (subs). Only the clear and sharp images made it to the processing stage after eliminating the aeroplane photobombing raids, clouds and a certain guard cat nudging the telescope!! 

I then went on to process the image through Pixinsight (dedicated astro software). I actually double processed the data both in the Hubble Palette SHO and the other HOO plus SII (gold). The Hubble Palette, also known as the Hubble Space Telescope's narrowband composite, is a colour scheme used in astrophotography to emphasise specific wavelengths of light emitted by different elements in space. It typically uses three narrowband filters:

1. Sulphur II (SII): Represented by red, this filter highlights ionised sulphur emissions.
2. Hydrogen-alpha (Hα): Shown in green, this filter captures emissions from ionised hydrogen, which is abundant in many nebulae.
3. Oxygen III (OIII): Depicted in blue, this filter reveals emissions from doubly ionised oxygen.

The above combination is commonly abbreviated to SHO, the combination below is HOO but I added SII with a golden colour to highlight the sulphur/hydrogen gases.

1. Hydrogen-alpha (Hα): Shown in green, this filter captures emissions from ionised hydrogen, which is abundant in many nebulae.
2. Oxygen III (OIII): Depicted in blue, this filter reveals emissions from doubly ionised oxygen.
3. Oxygen III (OIII): Depicted in blue, this filter reveals emissions from doubly ionised oxygen.

By combining images taken through these filters, the Hubble Palette creates striking images that reveal the complex structures and compositions of astronomical objects, such as nebulae, which may not be visible in full colour or through a standard visible light image. This technique helps to enhance scientific understanding of celestial phenomena.

so you have one of the Universes magnificent wonders in two coloured versions SHO and HOO (s). This image is in SHO