<p>Most of the visible light emission nebulae have a lot H-alpha emissions, and because of that appear red.
But why are other Balmer emissions much rarer? Do they need a hotter environment which is rarely found in nebulae?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-15T17:44:08.757Z
I don’t know the mechanisms behind that, but I do know that the Horsehead Nebula  (or, technically, IC 434, which is behind it) is better seen with an hydrogen-beta filter.
Pierre Paquette
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-16T19:23:45.973Z
The other Balmer emission lines aren't *rarer*, but they are *weaker*, due to the quantum-mechanical nature of the different transitions within the hydrogen atom; the temperature of the nebula has almost no effect. (H-alpha is typically about 2.9 times brighter than H-beta, for example.)
Peter Erwin
<nebula><hydrogen><h-alpha><nebulae><balmer-series>
How rare are nebulae which emit H-Beta/H-Gamma/H-Delta? (Balmer series)
jack_O'Dim
# How rare are nebulae which emit H-Beta/H-Gamma/H-Delta? (Balmer series)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-07-15)

Most of the visible light emission nebulae have a lot H-alpha emissions, and because of that appear red.
But why are other Balmer emissions much rarer? Do they need a hotter environment which is rarely found in nebulae?

**Tags:** nebula, hydrogen, h-alpha, nebulae, balmer-series
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I don’t know the mechanisms behind that, but I do know that the Horsehead Nebula  (or, technically, IC 434, which is behind it) is better seen with an hydrogen-beta filter.  
> **username_2**: The other Balmer emission lines aren't *rarer*, but they are *weaker*, due to the quantum-mechanical nature of the different transitions within the hydrogen atom; the temperature of the nebula has almost no effect. (H-alpha is typically about 2.9 times brighter than H-beta, for example.)  

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## 0 answers

