Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264), Pankaj Bhambhani

Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264)

Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264), Pankaj Bhambhani

Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264)

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Description

The Christmas Tree Cluster is a nursery for new stars, owing to its intricate structure of gas clouds (mostly hydrogen). The dark regions are cosmic dust that block light from background stars. The cone-like structure in the middle-left is the Cone Nebula. Very bright stars (like the one in the middle-right) emit ultraviolet light, which ionizes the surrounding gas, causing it to glow pink. This color image is constructed from four separate images taken in red, green, blue, and luminance.

I captured this image as part of the "Science in Focus" science photography competition organized by India Science Festival (ISF) 2024. Thanks to the iTelescope platform for making remote telescopes available for astrophotography.

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Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264), Pankaj Bhambhani