The Seagull Nebula, also known as IC 2177, is a diffuse emission nebula located in the constellation Monoceros.

Discovered by a Welsh amateur astronomer, The Seagull Nebula is an active site of star formation, with immense regions of ionized hydrogen and dark filaments of gas and dust that partially obscure the bright emission regions.

Interestingly, the arc within Seagull Nebula has been theorized to be the remnant of a supernova explosion that occurred between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago, with the shockwave from the explosion triggering the formation of new stars within the nebula.

About the Deep Space Collection:

Shot entirely with my rooftop telescope from the urban skies of Buenos Aires, the Deep Space Collection features many objects observable only from the southern hemisphere.

All images in the collection were shot using individual narrowband filters which cut off most of the light and allow only very specific wavelengths to pass (the light emitted from ionized hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur), making it possible to photograph deep space objects even from the highly light polluted skies of the city.

The images from each separate filter are then processed individually, combined and mapped to RGB channels for a final color image.

Two different color mapping palettes were used in this collection: SHO, where sulfur is mapped to red, hydrogen to green and oxygen to blue in what is referred to as "Hubble Palette" processing (as used in the images the famous space telescope) and HOO, where hydrogen is mapped to red, and oxygen to blue and green.