What technique allows professional astrophotography to capture the vibrant colors of nebulae?

Long-exposure imaging or using specialized filters

Astrophotography overcomes the limitations of instantaneous human vision by accumulating light energy over extended periods. The stunning, colorful results seen in professional images are predominantly achieved through long-exposure imaging, where the camera sensor collects photons continuously for minutes or even hours. This accumulation allows the total light dosage to become high enough that the eye's color-sensitive cones effectively register the hues, or specialized filters are employed. These filters are designed to isolate specific chemical signatures emitted by the gas clouds—such as hydrogen or oxygen—and these signals are then digitally mapped to corresponding visible colors during post-processing, creating the vibrant rendition that the human eye cannot perceive in real-time due to low light levels.