Cosmic Skull

For this image I used the same narrowband data as for my recently posted Rosette nebula image in the Hubble palette.

 

The beauty of narrowbanding is that you are free to combine the data to your liking. Here I tried to show the nebula closer to its 'true' red color, while emphasizing blue OIII data. For this, I used the following mix:

Red channel: 50% Sll + 50% Ha

Green channel: 20% Ha + 80% Olll

Blue channel: Olll

 

As there is no preferred direction in space, there also is no correct orientation for deep sky astro images. I therefore rotated the image 180° to show why the Rosette nebula is inoffically called Skull nebula.

 

Can you see the skull?

 

Prints available: ralf-rohner.pixels.com

 

EXIF

William Optics Megrez 88 f/5.5

ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro

20 x 180s with Baader 4,5 nm Sll, Ha, Olll filters

Done