LBN 864 (the engine within Sh2-261)

This image was processed from original narrowband data from Telescope Live.

This colorful emission nebula is part of the larger Sh2-261 named after Harold and Charles Lower who discovered it in 1939. LBN 864 is ionized by the massive O-type star HD 41997 found near its center. Sh2-261 and its associated nebulae are located on the edge of the Milky Way's Orion arm, about 3,200 light-years from Earth.

This image is rendered in the Hubble Palette in which ionized sulfur (Sii) gas is mapped to red, ionized hydrogen (Ha) gas is mapped to green, and ionized oxygen (Oiii) gas is mapped to blue.   I added diffraction spikes to some of the stars for added effect.

Processed using Pleiades PixInsight and Photoshop CC.