I keep seeing people call that Veil Nebula shot 'edited' when it's not

I noticed in like three different threads this week folks saying the Veil Nebula photo from the Hubble site is all fake colors and overprocessed. But here's the thing - I actually shot a narrowband image of the Veil myself last October from my backyard in Portland, using just an OIII and SII filter. The colors look almost identical to that Hubble version after I stacked 40 frames in PixInsight. People don't realize those filters pick up specific gases that naturally glow in red and blue, so it's not some artist's fantasy. It's more like taking a photo of a sunset - sure the colors pop, but the source is real. Why are we so quick to call real data 'fake' just because it doesn't look like our naked eye sees it? Has anyone else here actually processed their own narrowband data and compared it to the pro versions?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_fiona13d agoTop Commenter

40 frames in PixInsight sounds like a better use of time than complaining about space colors.

terrymitchell12d ago

What exactly is wrong with how space looks?