The Soul Nebula (IC 1848) is located in Cassiopeia and is 6,500 lightyears away. It is a cloud of cosmic gas and dust 150 lightyears wide that is illuminated and carved by powerful streams of charged particles emanating from an open cluster of stars. It, along with its neighbor, the Heart Nebula (not seen in this photograph), are located in the Perseus arm of our galaxy, the Milky Way, and together stretch about 600 lightyears across.
I chose to render the photograph of the Soul Nebula using SHO, otherwise known as the Hubble color palette. See below in the Full Description section for an explanation of SHO color palette.
This photograph is part of a four-panel mosaic I captured over three weeks. This particular panel, which is just of the Soul Nebula took three nights, and about 120 images were stacked per panel. I was able to capture this in my Bortle 8 urban skies in my backyard in Phoenix, Arizona.
The majority of photographs of nebula are in a false color palette. False-color photographs of nebulae are essentially color (RGB) photographs whose color channels have been mapped to specific emission lines. In these images, each color can represent a specific element. In other words, a false-color image of a nebula tells us exactly what it’s made of. There are many emission lines, but the three most photographed by astronomers are hydrogen-alpha, oxygen-III and sulfur-II. These emission lines are captured by using narrowband filters which only let through the light at very specific wavelengths, typically most of my photographs are taken with filters allowing a bandwidth of 3µm.
|
Element |
Emission line |
Wavelength |
Color |
|
Hydrogen |
Hα |
656.3 nm |
Red |
|
Oxygen |
O-III |
500.7 nm |
Blue/Green |
|
Sulfur |
S-II |
672.4 nm |
Red |
Mapping Hα, O-III and S-II to red, green and blue is problematic when two of them are red, one is blue/green, and none is pure blue. Astronomers deal with this by using false color — one or more of these elements is going to have to take a hit for the team and take on an unnatural hue. The Hubble palette assigns red to S-II, green to Hα, and blue to O-III: red is accurate, green and blue are false. This photograph uses the Hubble color palette, hence the golds and blues you find in the photograph.
 |
About DaveI create photographs that bridge fine art, landscape, travel, and astrophotography—each image a study in the way light shapes our world. From the shifting glow of the Sonoran Desert to the rugged edges of distant coastlines and the delicate structures of deep space, I’m drawn to scenes where light, texture, and tone converge in unexpected ways. Nature is the true artist; I simply try to honor its vision with every frame. My goal is to reveal the quiet magic of iconic places, turning fleeting moments into lasting visual stories. Through my lens, I invite you to see the world with a sense of wonder, a touch of sophistication, and a spirit of playful exploration. There’s always a bit of adventure—and a dash of wanderlust—in every photograph I share. |
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