I have been wanting to do a closer-up view of the Cone for some time (after seeing the gorgeous image by Sara Wager
http://www.astrobin.com/158316/?nc=all). Once the rain stopped I switched out scopes and gave it a try. I'm reasonably happy with the result but I think I can do better with more subs.
"The Cone Nebula (NGC 2264) is a giant pillar of gas and dust residing in a turbulent star-forming H2 region of the constellation Monoceros. Radiation from hot, young stars [located beyond the top of the image] has slowly eroded the nebula over millions of years. Ultraviolet light heats the edges of the dark cloud, releasing gas into the relatively empty region of surrounding space. There, additional ultraviolet radiation causes the hydrogen gas to glow, which produces the halo of light seen around the pillar. The faint nebula is approximately seven light-years long (with an apparent length of 10 arcminutes), and is 2,700 light-years away from Earth." [Source: adapted from NASA, APOD, Wikipedia and others.]
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