Skies By Africa

Images of the Heavens By Eric Africa

Nebulae

Nebulae are among my most successful body of work. This is especially true for narrowband images of nebulae, with the dense narrowband filters able to cut through the haze of light pollution in my back yard.

Most nebulae are challenging to see from my back yard because of the light pollution present. Regular color imaging (RGB) is also tough because it can be a challenge to differentiate faint regions of the nebula from gradients brought on by light pollution.

There are several different types of nebulae, all of which are covered in this site:

Emission Nebulae: these are huge clouds of gas (and some dust) that glow like neon lights from the ultraviolet radiation of energetic stars near or inside them

Reflection Nebulae: these are huge clouds of dust that reflect light from nearby bright stars

Planetary Nebulae: these are short-lived nebulae that are the shells cast off from dying stars having a mass similar to (and up to a few times) that of our Sun. They represent the phase after a star goes through its red giant phase and is on its way to becoming a white dwarf. Similar to emission nebulae, they shine from energetic radiation being spewed by the rapidly shrinking core of the collapsing stellar remnant as that fragment turns into a white dwarf

Supernova Remnants: these are the materials cast off by a star several times the mass of the Sun that blew up in a titanic eruption as their short lives ended

Dark Nebulae: these are huge clouds of dust that obscure the light of stars within or behind them, and appear as inky blotches in the otherwise star-filled night sky
Eta Carinae Eta Carinae    
NGC 6726 NGC 6726 Iris Nebula NGC 7023, the Iris Nebula
IC 423 IC423 and IC 424 LBN 777 LBN 777
IC447 Cone IC447 and Cone Nebula Cocoon Cocoon Nebula
SH2-173 SH2-173 M97 M97
Jelly Monkey Jelly/Monkey NGC 1491 NGC 1491
NGC 1999 NGC 1999 Barnards Loop Barnard's Loop
Cave Nebula Cave Nebula IC 405 IC 405
NGC 6888 NGC 6888 vdB149 and vdB150 vdB149 and vdB150
NGC 7000 and IC 5070 NGC 7000 and IC 5070 NGC 7023 and vdB141 Iris Nebula and Ghost Nebula
Sharpless 183 Sharpless 183 Sharpless 224 Sharpless 224
Cone Nebula Cone Nebula Ghost Nebula vdB 141
M78 M78 Wizard Sh2-142
IC 1848 IC 1848 SH2-157 SH2-157
IC 426 IC 426 M8 and M20 M8 and M20
M1 M1 M27 M27
IC 1396 IC 1396 IC 1805 IC 1805
DWB 111 DWB 111 NGC 7000 and IC 5070 NGC 7000 and IC 5070
M42 M42 The Horsehead Nebula The Horsehead Nebula
The Veil Nebula The Veil Nebula The "Philippine Nebula" The "Philippine Nebula"
IC 443 IC 443 IC 2177 IC 2177
The Rosette Nebula The Rosette Nebula NGC 281 NGC 281
IC 405 and IC 410 IC 405 and IC 410 NGC 1499 NGC 1499
Cederblad 214 Cederblad 214 M16 M16
M57 M57 M52 and NGC 7635 M52 and NGC 7635