Rosette Nebula Blooms with Colour

Terry Hancock sent Space.com this image of the Rosette Nebula taken under a full moon on March 16, 2014 from western Michigan. 

Credit: Terry Hancock | Down Under Observatory

The Rosette Nebula stars blooms with cosmic color in a stunning new image by an amateur astronomer.

Avid astrophotographer Terry Hancock carefully timed this beautiful shot of the Rosette Nebula, shooting for nearly three hours under a full moon to create the nebula view.

"This is work in progress. Normally we wouldn't think of trying to shoot color under a full moon," Hancock wrote Space.com in an email.

"However I have a lot of catching up to do this year due to poor weather and sky conditions and out of desperation."

Hancock captured this Rosette Nebula view on March 16 from western Michigan. For astrophotography fans, this photo is the result of 3x2 minute exposures each RGB bin 1x1 (no luminance) and a total of 18 minutes added to the h-alpha data, which he captured using the QHY11S camera and Takahashi Epsilon-ED180 telescope. The total exposure time 2 hours, 48 minutes.