Thursday night was a clear night, but I wasn’t feeling up to bringing out my equipment, but I finally convinced myself not to waste the night. I could have spent more time on this object however by 10pm I didn't feel up to staying up any longer and decided to power down for the night. I might just give this target abother go the next clear night.
NGC 2264 is the designation number of the
New General Catalogue that identifies two
astronomical objects as a single object: the
Cone Nebula, and the Christmas Tree Cluster. Two other objects are within this designation but not officially included, the
Snowflake Cluster, and the
Fox Fur Nebula.All of the objects are located in the
Monoceros constellationand are located about 720
parsecs or 2,300
light-years from
Earth. Due to its relative proximity and large size, it is extremely well studied. NGC 2264 is sometimes referred to as the Christmas Tree Cluster and the
Cone Nebula. However, the designation of NGC 2264 in the
New General Cataloguerefers to both objects and not the cluster alone.
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