Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Orion (Ori)  ·  Contains:  4 Vesta  ·  6.85  ·  HD251722  ·  HD251758  ·  HD251759  ·  HD251760  ·  HD251788  ·  HD251816  ·  HD251817  ·  HD251818  ·  HD251852  ·  HD251884  ·  HD251885  ·  HD251886  ·  HD251888  ·  HD251889  ·  HD251890  ·  HD251891  ·  HD251918  ·  HD251919  ·  HD251920  ·  HD251949  ·  HD251950  ·  HD251975  ·  HD251995  ·  HD252027  ·  HD252028  ·  HD252029  ·  HD252054  ·  HD252055  ·  And 124 more.
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NGC 2174 - Monkey Head Nebula, James E.
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NGC 2174 - Monkey Head Nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 2174 - Monkey Head Nebula, James E.
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 2174 - Monkey Head Nebula

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Description

Resembling the profile of a monkey's head, NGC 2174 is a star-forming region about 6500 light years away in Orion.  Massive, newly formed stars near the nebula's center generate stellar winds and high energy radiation while blasting away at the dust within the nebula.  It glows strongly at infrared wavelengths due to the radiation.  On the right side of the nebula is an apparent stellar shock front.  Sinbad defines the area as an infrared point source IRAS 06081+2025 (IRAS stands for InfraRed Astronomical Satellite which has a mission to identify new infrared sources). 

The rounded diffuse nebula near the bottom of the image is Sharpless 247 located just over the boundary in Gemini.  It is part of the Gemini OB1 molecular complex and about 7000 light years distant.  It contains plenty of signal in Ha and SII, but has no useable OIII signal. 

Once again, Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch came to the processing rescue in the effort to extract the faintest areas.   See revisions for starless Ha, OIII and SII images.

Imaged over several nights:  Dec 9, 12-14, 2023.

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