The Flame and Horsehead Nebulae are one of the most iconic targets in astrophotography. Located in the constellation Orion, they are part of a vast complex of gas and dust clouds known as the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex.
The Flame Nebula is an emission nebula that glows with a reddish-orange hue, caused by the ionization of hydrogen gas by the nearby star Alnitak, one of the three stars in Orion's belt.
The Horsehead Nebula, on the other hand, is a dark nebula that appears as a silhouette against the glowing background of an emission nebula. Its distinctive shape is caused by the absorption of light by dust and gas within the nebula.
About the Deep Space Collection:
Shot entirely with my rooftop telescope from the urban skies of Buenos Aires, the Deep Space Collection features many objects observable only from the southern hemisphere.
All images in the collection were shot using individual narrowband filters which cut off most of the light and allow only very specific wavelengths to pass (the light emitted from ionized hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur), making it possible to photograph deep space objects even from the highly light polluted skies of the city.
The images from each separate filter are then processed individually, combined and mapped to RGB channels for a final color image.
Two different color mapping palettes were used in this collection: SHO, where sulfur is mapped to red, hydrogen to green and oxygen to blue in what is referred to as "Hubble Palette" processing (as used in the images the famous space telescope) and HOO, where hydrogen is mapped to red, and oxygen to blue and green.
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