NGC6357 Pseudo Natural Color with Narrowband - May 2023

NGC 6357, AKA, "Lobster" nebula and "War and Peace Nebula" because of its appearance in the bright western part that resembles a dove and the eastern part resembles a skull.

NGC 6357 is about 5500 light years away in the constellation Scorpius near the better known NGC 6334, AKA the "Cat's Paw" or "Bear Paw" nebula.

This photo is a two plate mosaic and was taken through a 8" SCT at f6.3 (1280mm focal length) and exposed with a QHY268M astronomy camera.

The total integration time was 33 hours and 10 minutes for both of the mosaic plates through all three of the narrowband filters, H-Alpha, OIII and H-Beta.