There are many beautiful views that can be seen from the deep recesses of space. However, current imagining remains colorless. In order to create a beautiful combination of colors in the space imaging, it’s important to edit and color the images to receive the most out of the view. For my project, I used three separate images, color-coated and layered them as red, green, and blue, and cropped it to look good. I did this through a process using the FITS Liberator and Photoshop. Detailed step by step instructions can be found here, you can download the FITS Liberator here, and you can get a free 30-day trial of Photoshop from their website. 

My final image from Messier 17

I chose to pick images of the star-forming nebula Messier 17, otherwise known as the Omega Nebula. Messier 17 has also been called the Swan Nebula, Checkmark Nebula, Lobster Nebula, and the Horseshoe Nebula. Messier 17 is about 5,000 to 6,000 light-years away from Earth, and has a diameter of 15-light years. Messier is thought to be one of the most massive places of star-formation in the Milky Way Galaxy.