NGC 2264 / Sh2-273 (MON) - The Cone / Christmas Tree / Fox Fur … with a late March Snowflake
What’s in the picture(s) -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2264Quote: “NGC 2264 is the location where the Cone Nebula, the Stellar Snowflake Cluster and the Christmas Tree Cluster (Sh2-273) have formed in this emission
nebula.
All of the objects are located in the
Monoceros constellation and are located about 2,300
light-years from
Earth.
For reference, the Stellar Snowflake Cluster is located 2,700
light years away. The
Monoceros constellation is not typically visible by the naked eye due to its lack of colossal stars.”
What was the experience
I had imaged this DSO already before with the TS140-scope, in HaRGB, during early January. A nice start to this DSO at the time, but lacking integration time.
The past couple of weeks, I’ve pointed the TS94 (wider field) at this region for a wider look, and stacked up the integration time over several nights to 10+ hours. Captured with the L-Enhance, I decided to process this into an HOO-palette.
The long integration time is bringing out the surrounding nebulosity so clearly, that it seemed a shame to put the stars back into the image. So much, that I consider the starless version as the 'main', with a 'revision'with stars added, like little snowflakes floating in space.
Compared to my previous take, the nebulosity and gas differentiation of the nebulae stands out so much more clearly, as if you can nearly see the big whiffs of gas floating around in space. Obviously, calling this a “whiff” is a slight understatement 😂 … these structures are light years across … 😮
Quite pleased with the level of detail in this result … 😎
How it was done
Scope: TS94 APO (FL 414mm)
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Camera: ASI2600MC Pro
Photons: 20220222-0310 L-Enhance 180s 210x 10:30
Processing: PixInsight (Mac)
What have I learned from this
Capturing with the L-Enhance doesn’t necessarily mean you’re stuck with a mono-coloured red-ish image, carefully using the HOO-palette allows to bring out the blueish Oiii as well. The longer integration times are definitively paying off, giving a level of detail in the fine gas structures, as if you can nearly touch them 👌, frozen in time. Space has just come a couple more miles closer … to my heart 😍
Clear Skies everybody! 🤩✨🔭
Follow me @astrowaut
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