Our 8th deep sky target, imaged by the French AstroDarkTeam composed of Pascal Gouraud and Stephane Rolland from the beautiful Astro ARO remote observatory in Portugal.
We propose this time the beautiful NGC 2264 which contains the
Cone Nebula, the
Fox Fur Nebula and the
Snowflake Cluster. All are located in the Monoceros constellation at an approximate distance of 2,700 light years from earth.
- Cone Nebula : This spectacular Cone Nebula is about 6 light-years long. The nebula was named for its conical shape, which is the result of a dark nebula absorbing the light of an emission nebula that lies behind it. The dark absorption nebula is composed of dust and cold molecular hydrogen. The emission nebula in the background appears as a halo of light around the edges of the dark cloud. The faint emission nebula is ionized and illuminated by the star S Monocerotis a massive variable star system.
- Fox Fur. The texture and color of the nebula resemble the head of a red fox stole. It contains huge amounts of interstellar dust and gas, which are illuminated by the massive young stars that are being formed within the nebula’s thick clouds. The colorful glow of the nebula is the result of hydrogen gas being stimulated to emit its own light by the strong ultraviolet radiation from the cluster's massive, young, hot blue stars.
- The Snowflake Cluster between the cone and the fox fur consists of a compact group of bright protostars that appear geometrically arranged in a pattern similar to that of a single crystal of snow (with a bit of imagination…).
Technical Details :
ASI2600MM monochrome camera cooled to -15 degrees
PHD2 Autoguiding with optical splitter ZWO with Camera ASI290MM
All equipment piloted by N.I.N.A. This is our first target with N.I.N.A. A good result with good nights sleep
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