NGC 2174 (also known as
Monkey Head Nebula) is an
H IIemission nebula located in the constellation
Orion and is associated with the open star cluster
NGC 2175.It is thought to be located about 6,400 light-years away from
Earth. The
nebula may have formed through
hierarchical collapse.
Open Cluster NGC 2175 (also known as OCL 476 or Cr 84) is an open cluster in the Orion constellation, embedded in a diffusion nebula. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and independently discovered by Karl Christian Bruhns in 1857. NGC 2175 is at a distance of about 6,350 light years away from Earth.The nebula surrounding it is
Sharpless catalog Sh 2-252.There is some equivocation in the use of the identifiers
NGC 2174 and NGC 2175. These may apply to the entire nebula, to its brightest knot, or to the star cluster it includes. Burnham's
Celestial Handbook lists the entire nebula as 2174/2175 and does not mention the star cluster.The NGC Project (working from the original descriptive notes) assigns NGC 2174 to the prominent knot at J2000 06h 09m 23.7s, +20° 39′ 34″ and NGC 2175 to the entire nebula, and by extension to the star cluster.
[Simbad uses NGC 2174 for the nebula and NGC 2175 for the star cluster.
Glowing gas and dark dust do not survive well in the Monkey Head Nebula. Young stars near the center of the nebula generate
stellar winds and high energy radiation that causes the nebula's material to shift into complex shapes.The nebula is primarily composed of hydrogen which glows at
infrared wavelengths due to the radiation.
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