Each color channel combined in Meade Envisage as collected.
Aligned channels with each other with Meade AutostarSuite.
Import those files to photoshop 7 via FITS Liberator plugin.
Adjusted levels and Curves a bit
Minor HSL adjustment to taste
Description:
Discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745-46.
The Omega Nebula M17, also called the Swan Nebula, the Horseshoe Nebula, or (especially on the southern hemisphere) the Lobster Nebula, is a region of star formation and shines by excited emission, caused by the higher energy radiation of young stars. Unlike in many other emission nebulae, however, these stars are not obvious in optical images, but hidden in the nebula. Star formation is either still active in this nebula, or ceased very recently. A small cluster of about 35 bright but obscurred stars seems to be imbedded in the nebulosity.
The color of the Omega Nebula is reddish, with some graduation to pink. This color comes from the hot hydrogene gas which is excited to shine by the hottest stars which have just formed within the nebula. However, the brightest region is actually of white color, not overexposed as one might think. This phenomenon is apparently a result of a mixture of emission light from the hottest gas, together with reflections of the bright star light from the dust in this region. The nebula contains a large amount of dark obscuring material, which is obvious in its remarkable features. This matter has been heated by the hidden young stars, and shines brightly in infrared light.
