The Statue of Liberty Nebula
NGC 3576
is a bright emission nebula in the Sagittarius arm of our galaxy, approximately 9,000 light-years from Earth and 100 light years across. Its ‘popular name,’ The Statue of Liberty Nebula was first suggested in 2009 by my friend and former observing partner, Dr. Steve Mazlin. Discovered by John Herschel in 1834, this star forming region has produced dense knots of dark interstellar dust, and at least 33 massive stars in the end stages of formation. The beautiful colors of this image are 'false color.' Known as the Hubble Palette, specialized, scientific filters are used to capture Sulfur II, Hydrogen-alpha, and Oxygen III emission lines. The data are then 'mapped' to red, green, and blue channels, respectively, to result in this 'SHO' palette. Predominantly green upon combining, due to the powerful emissions in the H-a data, the color is then adjusted to a more aesthetically pleasing result.This data was acquired by Lloyd Smith and the good folks at Deep Sky West.
LARGE
is a bright emission nebula in the Sagittarius arm of our galaxy, approximately 9,000 light-years from Earth and 100 light years across. Its ‘popular name,’ The Statue of Liberty Nebula was first suggested in 2009 by my friend and former observing partner, Dr. Steve Mazlin. Discovered by John Herschel in 1834, this star forming region has produced dense knots of dark interstellar dust, and at least 33 massive stars in the end stages of formation. The beautiful colors of this image are 'false color.' Known as the Hubble Palette, specialized, scientific filters are used to capture Sulfur II, Hydrogen-alpha, and Oxygen III emission lines. The data are then 'mapped' to red, green, and blue channels, respectively, to result in this 'SHO' palette. Predominantly green upon combining, due to the powerful emissions in the H-a data, the color is then adjusted to a more aesthetically pleasing result.This data was acquired by Lloyd Smith and the good folks at Deep Sky West.
LARGE