Close up of Christmas tree: Fox fur & Cone Nebula (Prabhakaran)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Monoceros (Mon) · Contains: 15 S Mon · Christmas Tree Cluster · LBN 911 · LBN 912 · LDN 1613 · NGC 2264 · Sh2-273 · The star 15Mon

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Close up of Christmas tree: Fox fur & Cone Nebula

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Close up of Christmas tree: Fox fur & Cone Nebula

Clouds of glowing hydrogen gas fill this colorful skyscape in the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. A star-forming region cataloged as NGC 2264, the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes emission nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars with dark interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to the hot, young stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue reflection nebulae. The narrowband telescopic image spans about 3/4 degree or nearly 1.5 full moons, covering 40 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the Fox Fur Nebula, whose dusty, convoluted pelt lies near the bottom, bright variable star S Monocerotis immersed in the blue-tinted haze near center, and the Cone Nebula pointing in from the left side of the frame. Of course, the stars of NGC 2264 are also known as the Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular tree shape is seen on its side here. Traced by brighter stars it has its apex at the Cone Nebula. The tree's broader base is centered near S Monocerotis.

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Other
Unknown

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	5687163
PixInsight job	5UOU3STQMBEH4BIBQIFDLGATY8ZNTEVF
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	06h40m51s.248
RA (top/left)	06h42m11s.945
RA (top/right)	06h42m07s.565
RA (bottom/right)	06h39m30s.216
RA (bottom/left)	06h39m35s.169

Dec (center)	+09°45′31″.46
Dec (top/left)	+09°16′36″.61
Dec (top/right)	+10°15′10″.70
Dec (bottom/right)	+10°14′29″.27
Dec (bottom/left)	+09°15′52″.12

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Close up of Christmas tree: Fox fur & Cone Nebula

Close up of Christmas tree: Fox fur & Cone Nebula

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Close up of Christmas tree: Fox fur & Cone Nebula

Close up of Christmas tree: Fox fur & Cone Nebula

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