Flame Nebula with OSC. NGC 2024 and Sh2-277. No filter. This is one of my favorites. I've peered at everyone's pics of this nebula forever as the detail and mystery behind it is tantalizing.
From Wikipedia: The
Flame Nebula, designated as
NGC 2024 and
Sh2-277, is an
emission nebula in the constellation
Orion. It is about 900 to 1,500
light-years away.The bright star
Alnitak (ζ Ori), the easternmost star in the
Belt of Orion, shines energetic
ultraviolet light into the Flame and this knocks electrons away from the
great clouds of hydrogen gas that reside there. Much of the glow results when the electrons and ionized hydrogen recombine. Additional dark gas and dust lies in front of the bright part of the nebula and this is what causes the dark network that appears in the center of the glowing gas. The Flame Nebula is part of the
Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, a
star-forming region that includes the famous
Horsehead Nebula.At the center of the Flame Nebula is a
cluster of newly formed stars,
[3] 86% of which have
circumstellar disks.
[4]X-ray observations by the
Chandra X-ray Observatory[5][6] show several hundred young stars, out of an estimated population of 800 stars.
[7] X-ray and infrared images indicate that the youngest stars are concentrated near the center of the cluster.
[8][9]
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