Russell Croman photographs space from his backyard observatory in Austin, Texas. Getting beyond what the telescope sees, he processes images to highlight the features of objects, such as the Rosette Nebula.

The nebula is about 4,500 light-years away in constellation Monoceros. It is visible with binoculars under dark skies away from urban lighting.

Croman uses filters to isolate specific colors that result from emissions from certain types of atoms, then he colorizes and combines the images. "Red indicates the light given off by sulfur atoms when stimulated by the intense ultraviolet light streaming from the young, hot stars at the center of the nebula," he told SPACE.com. "Similarly, green represents the light from excited hydrogen atoms, and blue the light of oxygen."

The result he says is "as scientifically valuable as it is pleasing to the eye." Indeed, astronomers use the same techniques to process images from the Hubble Space Telescope, creating pretty pictures that scientists can study for clues to the makeup of such giant clouds of gas and dust.

Credit and Copyright: Russell Croman