Thursday, Jan 9, 2025

This rendition of the Prawn Nebula (IC 4628) aims to highlight the stunning textures and vivid colors of this iconic emission nebula in the constellation Scorpius. The chosen color mapping of a golden-yellowish tone for Ha and a more reddish hue for SII resembles the typical Hubble Palette, while trying to add a warmer and more personalized touch to emphasize the glowing hydrogen regions and enhance the nebula’s depth. The OIII regions add cooler blue tones, and helps to provide a harmonious balance across the frame, in my opinion. The Prawn Nebula is an active star-forming region about 6,000 light-years away, rich with intricate filaments and illuminated clouds shaped by the powerful radiation and stellar winds of young, massive stars.