Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Monoceros (Mon)  ·  Contains:  NGC 2170  ·  NGC 2182
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NGC 2170, John Bozeman
NGC 2170
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NGC 2170

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NGC 2170, John Bozeman
NGC 2170
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 2170

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Description

NGC 2170 is a dusty reflection nebula and stellar nursery that formed about 6 to 10 million years ago, located at the edge of the elliptically shaped, giant star-forming molecular cloud Monoceros R2 (Mon R2), some 2,700 light-years away in the constellation of Monoceros. The bluish areas are reflection nebulae, so-named because they reflect the light of nearby hot stars. The dust particle size in these areas preferentially reflects blue light, similar to cigarette and other kinds of smoke. The red areas are emission nebulae, and shine because ultraviolet light from nearby stars excites hydrogen and other gas atoms in the nebula, which then emit light of their own in specific colors. Finally, what looks a bit like black ink spilled across the image are dark absorption nebulae, and are only seen because of the light that they block. In other words, the dark nebula is seen in silhouette. There are tell-tale signs of ongoing star formation and massive young stars mostly hidden behind the thick interstellar dust, which strongly absorbs ultraviolet and visible light. Energetic winds and intense radiation from these hot young stars reshape their natal interstellar clouds.


Composite image of DSS-II data (70%) and WISE IR data (30%).

2nd Digital Sky Survey data:
Red and Blue plates.

Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) IR Data
Color Mapped:
Red - 22 micron IR
Green - 12 micron IR
Cyan - 4.6 micron IR
Blue - 3.4 micron IR

 Processed with Registar, GraXpert, PixInsight and Photoshop 2023.

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NGC 2170, John Bozeman