Sonoran Dark Skies

Images of the Night Sky taken from the Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona

Narrowband imaging uses special filters which transmit a very narrow wavelength of light. Most popular are three filters: Ha, SII, & OIII. These three transmit the most prevalent ionized gases: hydrogen alpha, sodium, and oxygen. These separate images are combined in one of many ways, to equate to red, green, and blue. Two common ways to "map" these colors are called the Hubble Palette and CFHT (Canada France Hawaii Telescope) Palette. So called because of the origin of their use. Hubble images map SII to red, Ha to green, and OIII to blue. Most pleasing to my eye is the CFHT Palette so most of my images are in this format where Ha is red, OIII is green, and SII is blue. My narrowband imaging efforts begin September 2008.

Jelly Fish Nebula, IC443

Narrowband

Click on the thumbnails below to view images in full resolution plus technical and imaging data.

Jelly Fish Nebula, IC 443 in Hubble Palette

Elephant Trunk Nebula, IC 1396 in CFHT Palette

Wizard Nebula, SH2-142 in CFHT Palette

Wizard Nebula, SH2-142 in Hubble Palette

Pac Man Nebula, NGC 281 in Hubble Palette

NGC 1491 in Hubble Palette

NGC 1491 in CFHT Palette

Cocoon Nebula, IC 5146 in Hubble Palette

Horsehead Nebula, B33 in
IC 434 in Ha Narrowband

SH2-290 in CFHT Palette

Pretzel Nebula, SH2-224 in CFHT Palette

Pac Man Nebula, NGC 281 in CFHT Palette

Jelly Fish Nebula, IC 443 in OSH Palette

Veil Nebula, NGC 6992 in Hubble Palette

Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888 in Hubble Palette

SH2-313 in Hubble Palette

Swan Nebula, NGC 6618 in Hubble Palette

Swan Nebula, NGC 6618 in CFHT Palette

Trifid Nebula, M20 in Hubble Palette

Trifid Nebula, M20 in CFHT Palette

Click on the link at the bottom for more images