Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Monoceros (Mon)  ·  Contains:  Christmas Tree Cluster  ·  NGC 2259  ·  NGC 2264  ·  The star 15Mon
Christmas Tree cluster and Cone Nebula, Shane Jones
Christmas Tree cluster and Cone Nebula
Powered byPixInsight

Christmas Tree cluster and Cone Nebula

Christmas Tree cluster and Cone Nebula, Shane Jones
Christmas Tree cluster and Cone Nebula
Powered byPixInsight

Christmas Tree cluster and Cone Nebula

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Before the clouds came in last night with the snow, I got another few hours of clear, crisp skies and a chance to image another deep sky object. This is the Christmas Tree Cluster and the Cone Nebula (NGC2264) located in the constellation of Monocerous. The red Christmas tree shape is clear, adorned with its blue tinged open star cluster masquerading as the baubles. The Cone Nebula sits at the top of the 'tree' but is inverted in this shot. Deep within the clouds of gas and dust are the ingredients for producing new stars, which burn a fiercely hot bright blue. The red hue in the image is a result of gas clouds glowing as they are hit by ultra-violet light emanating from the newborn stars. The region is about 30 lightyears across and sits 2600 lightyears from Earth, not far in the sky from the Orion constellation.

William Optics GT81

William Optics Flat 6AIII

ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

ZWO ASI Air Pro

Skywatcher HEQ 5 Pro

Optolong L-eNhance filter



48 x 300s lights, 40 darks, 50 flats and 50 dark flats at gain 100 and -10C.



Stacked in DSS, processed with PS and LR.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

Christmas Tree cluster and Cone Nebula, Shane Jones