NGC 3324 The Gabriela Mistral Nebula

These images illustrate the difference between narrowband imaging and imaging in visible light.

HSO image with ‘the Hubble Palette’

This is a narrowband image of the Gabriela Mistral Nebula, an open cluster in the southern constellation Carina. The emissions from different elements were put into different colour channels to differentiate their origins. The blue colour indicates the presence of Oxygen; bright yellow Hydrogen and dark red sulfur (also called 'the Hubble Palette’). It’s an elegant way of combining the beauty of science and nature.

RGB

This is what the nebula would look like in visible light if we have extremely over-evolved night sight.

HSO + RGB

I then played with the data and merged them to create this image. There are loads of rooms for artistic creation.

(The data was acquired from iTelescope, which I processed using pixinsight and photoshop)