October saw some great clear skies - part 2, the nebula edition

This edition is very nebula heavy.  Nebula are interesting in their aesthetics and beauty but are foreboding, inhospitable places.  In sharp contrast I love galaxies, they're tiny, life bearing universes unto themselves.  They are like turning up a rock and finding varied things of all kinds, rocks, bugs, worms.  Each galaxy too is unique, but i get ahead of myself thats post 3 of my wonderful start to fall deep sky observing!  Also be sure to check out part 1

IC 1848 the Soul Nebula

I had previously shot this area last year   One major difference that jumps out is the B&W vs false color from this year.  The color in all my newer nebula shots is false, created in photoshop where I turn the white areas of the nebula 'red' and the bright stars 'blue'.  The other things to notice are the duration of subs/total as well as the roundness resulting from better guiding, which is a combination of better guide cam and better overall polar alignment techniques.  Also the collimation was a bit better for this years attempt!


Second up is NCC 281 or the Pacman Nebula.

Here's a link to the 1920x1080 wallpaper edition!


Finally batting clean up for round 2 of my fall, clear and deep sky collection...

NGC 1499 the California Nebula.  I think this is the area around the San Francisco Bay area!  :)

Thanks for looking and be sure to check out all my Astronomy related images and follow me on Google Plus, Twitter or Facebook!