Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster (Steve Robbins)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Monoceros (Mon) · Contains: Christmas Tree Cluster · NGC 2264 · The star 15Mon

Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster, Steve Robbins

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Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster

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Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster

The Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster work together to create this deep sky object. The brightest star is 4.66 magnitude star 15 Monocerotis or 15 Mon (also referred to as S Mon because it is slightly variable of less than a tenth of a magnitude.) It forms the base of the Christmas Tree in the Cluster. I have it framed so the tree points upward and to the left from the base. With some imagination the Cone Nebula can almost look like an angel with wings standing on the Christmas tree. 15 Mon is the primary source of high intensity ultraviolet radiation that causes the gases in the surrounding nebula to radiate light and heats the edges of the dark cloud of the cone nebula causing it to release gas into the empty region around it. 15 Mon is two stars in a tight 26-year orbit. The individual stars are massive with one source estimating 50 and 20 solar masses with luminosities of about 200,000 and 50,000 solar respectively. Both probably will explode as supernovae. Further research of this star(s) is planned to improve our understanding of star evolution. The image also contains the curious Fox Fur Nebula near the bottom and a Snowflake Star Cluster located just under the top of the tree. This cluster is made up of very young stars and is best seen in infrared.

This image in taken in Ha, OIII and SII and colored using the Hubble pallet while emphasizing the blue. RGB was used for stars.

R 40X180
G 53X180
B 53X180
Ha 34X600
OIII 21X 600
SII 30X600

Total Integration 21.5 hrs.

Original
Final
B

B

Description: Changed orientation to make it easier to find the Christmas Tree Cluster

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Suburban Astrophotography
The refractors!
ZWO ASI1600MM/QHY163M

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Status	Basic success
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Astrometry.net job	5118341
PixInsight job	n/a
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Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster

Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster

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Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster

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