Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Monoceros (Mon)  ·  Contains:  Hubble's Nebula  ·  Hubble's variable neb  ·  NGC 2261
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Hubble's Variable - NGC 2261, Stefan
Powered byPixInsight

Hubble's Variable - NGC 2261

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Hubble's Variable - NGC 2261, Stefan
Powered byPixInsight

Hubble's Variable - NGC 2261

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

NGC 2261 (also called Hubble’s Variable Nebula) is a reflection nebula located in the constellation Monoceros. The nebula is illuminated by the giant B0 star R Monocerotis (R Mon). This star cannot be seen directly but is hidden in the nebula.

The nebula presents rapid changes to its shape and internal structures. Hence, pictures from different years will deviate from each other. The reason for this is most likely not a substantial change to the nebula itself but rather small variations of the matter close to the light source R Mon, which cast shadows onto the more distant areas of reflection matter.

Right above NGC 2261, a faint but clearly red object can be glimpsed. This is the Herbig-Haro object HH 39. The dark starless area in the upper left corner of the image is LBN 922.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

Hubble's Variable - NGC 2261, Stefan