Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Monoceros (Mon)  ·  Contains:  NGC 2237  ·  NGC 2238  ·  NGC 2239  ·  NGC 2246  ·  NGC 2252  ·  Rosette A  ·  Rosette B  ·  Rosette Nebula  ·  The star 12Mon
NGC2244, Jason Lichter
NGC2244
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NGC2244

NGC2244, Jason Lichter
NGC2244
Powered byPixInsight

NGC2244

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Description

The Rosette Nebula is an emission nebula, a large star forming region located in the constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn.

The nebula is a large cloud of gas and dust that lies near a large molecular cloud and is closely associated with the open cluster NGC 2244, whose stars were formed from the nebula’s matter in the last five million years.

The Rosette (or Rosetta) Nebula’s appearance in optical light resembles a rose flower or the rosette, the stylized flower design used in sculptural objects since ancient times, and the nebula was named after the design. The nebula has earned the nickname the Skull because it also closely resembles the human skull.The nebula is a region of intense star formation. The stellar winds from the young stars inside the nebula exert pressure on interstellar clouds and the compression leads to ongoing star forming activity in the nebula.

The Rosette Nebula contains very hot young stars in its central region. The gas surrounding these stars has a temperature of 6 million kelvins and as a result the stars emit intense amounts of X-ray radiation.

The Rosette Nebula has an apparent magnitude of 9.0 and is approximately 5,200 light years distant from Earth.

It is about 65 light years in radius, significantly larger than the famous Orion Nebula (M42) in Orion, which is only 12 light in radius, but much closer to us (1,344 light years). The Rosette Nebula’s other designations are Caldwell 49, SH 2-275, and CTB 21.

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NGC2244, Jason Lichter

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Nebula