Deep sky nebula are fascinating structures, but images of these clouds of (mostly) hydrogen gas tend to be obscured by the huge numbers of stars, which can sometimes dominate the image. Hydrogen dominates the universe--some 75% of the mass in the universe is hydrogen. Vast clouds of the gas dot the Milky Way and most galaxies; when exited by starlight, electrons jump to higher energy orbits, but then decay, emitting photons of a specific energy level, causing the gas to glow at a specific wavelength of light (H-alpha, 656.28 nm). Special narrowband filters allow us to capture this glow with digital cameras. Astrophotographers typically combine images made through different filters to create color images. Presented here are a variety of images of just the H-alpha image. Special software allows us to remove the stars from the image, making the structure of the gas clouds stand out. Viewed this way the clouds take on the appearance of an abstract painting.
