Colors of M8 in SHO: The Lagoon Reimagined

Image Title: Colors of M8 in SHO

Copyright: Fernando Peña

Date image was taken: May 09, 2025

Location: Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

Data Acquisition Method: Personal Telescope Setup

Image Description and Details: The Lagoon Nebula is a very popular and targeted object of the Milky Way Season, mostly in natural color and in hoo palettes due to its predominant hydrogen emission signal. However, I find myself impressed by the amount of detail the SII channel has. In this image I integrated 35 hrs of narrow band data, processing was a bit challenging as my objective was to show most of the detail on each of the channels while keeping a pleasant color balance. I ended up using a modified SHO palette with mixed HOO which worked well in showing the core with its SII filaments and external veils of OIII. I took this image from my backyard rolloff observatory in Bortle 8 city, Zapopan, Mexico.

Equipment Details: Epsilon 160 + Player One OAG + Player One Ceres-M
CGE-PRO DIY Onstep
ZWO ASI2600mm-PRO
Antlia HA, OIII, SII, 3nm HighSpeed pro
HA 103x300s
OIII 82x600s
SII 66x600s

Name: Fernando Peña Campos

Email: fernandoapmx@gmail.com

Website or Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/drcaosap/