Pier 1 Gallery

Sharpless 232 in Auriga
The diffuse nebula is massive, the biggest in the Auriga nebula complex, but it is very faint and hard to capture. Hundreds of subexposures were used to try to bring out its dusty detail and dim contrast. Only the Hydrogen and Sulphur channels shine; Oxygen contributed to the star colors.

The Whale Galaxy
This interesting edge-on galaxy in Canes Venatici looks a bit like a whale with its pup underneath. Of particular note is its off-center starburst region, and it’s a good fit to be number 281 in Arp’s list of unusual galaxies. The nearby colliding Hockey Stick galaxies can be seen in the upper right of this image.

The California Nebula in Blue
This nebula is found just ‘above’ the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades in Perseus. When processing the almost pure hydrogen glow, image processors must choose which color to make it, and we chose a cooler blue and purple rendering over the traditional pink and red this time.