NEBULA Astrophotography

This type of nebulae appears as clouds of ionized gases that emit their own light.

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About 90% are mostly made up of Hydrogen gas and so are easier to capture with a Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) filter.

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Perhaps the most popular emission nebula is by far M42 (The Orion Nebula). The image above is our all-time favorite: Thor's Helmet.

Reflection Nebulae are the opposite of emission nebulae. Instead of emitting their own light, these are just clouds that reflect the light from nearby stars.

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Reflection nebulae are often blue, as seen in the picture above of Messier 78, not far from the Orion Nebula.

Their gases can also be found mixed with gases from emission nebulae.

Dark nebulae, also called absorption nebulae, are clouds of interstellar gas that are so thick that light cannot pass or reflect through them. 

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These are only visible if in front of clusters of stars or colorful nebulae. An example of a dark nebula is Barnard 33 (The Horsehead Nebula) as well as the Cone Nebula pictured above.

This is actually a type of emission nebulae. The term planetary may be confusing as they have nothing to do with planets.

First used by William Herschel to describe the nebulae he spotted which appeared bright and round like the shape of a planet.

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Our sun is believed to become a planetary nebula when it dies.

Supernova Remnants appear when a large star goes into supernova. This leaves a shockwave of colorful gas that expands outward at incredible speeds.

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The first entry in Charles Messier's catalog is the Supernova Remnant of the Crab Nebula (as seen above). Another great example of such an object is the Cygnus Loop, which contains 3 major parts of the Veil Nebula.