A False-Color Image of Your Very Own

Behold a false-color image of Messier Object 27, better known as the Dumbbell Nebula.

False-color images of astronomical objects are not unusual, of course, but what’s unique about this one is that I created it my ownself, while noodling around on software the final day of LaunchPad.

And the absolutely cool thing is that you can do this too, because the software is free for download, and is available for most operating systems.

Version 2.0 of this software was called Next Generation, so of course the current 3.0 version is called DS9. Geeks call the shots on these things!

What you do, see, is get the raw Hubble or Chandra data from NASA— which is available here and here— and then you load it into DS9, and you start making cool astronomical gorgeousness.

I’m thinking of producing a calendar, myself.