NGC 2264 (Monoceros)
Fig. 1 - A festive-looking deep-sky object: NGC 2264 in Monoceros, a reddish and bluish nebula and a bright star cluster, photographed with an 8-inch f/5 Newtonian reflector on a ZWO AM5 mount.
| Object name: | Constellation: | Coordinates: | Apparent size: | Visual brightness: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 2264 | Monoceros | 06h41m / +09°54' | 40' | 4.1 mag |
The Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster NGC 2264 in the constellation Monoceros. The Cone Nebula, so named because of its apparent shape, comes from a dark absorption nebula consisting of cold molecular hydrogen and dust in front of a faint emission nebula containing hydrogen ionized by the bright star S Monocerotis. The nebula is approximately seven light-years long and 2,700 light-years from Earth. The Christmas Tree Cluster consists of young stars - with ages between about one and five million years old - obscured by layers of dust. It is also approximately 2,700 light-years from Earth. NGC 2264 was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel in 1784 (source: Wikipedia).
Exposure time: 5h 3min (101x3min) at gain 100 and -10°C, taken on December 29 / 30, 2024. Processing with Astro Pixel Processor (APP) and Photoshop. Darks, flats, bias and darkflats were used.
Equipment: Cooled ASI 2600MC Pro camera, TeleVue Paracorr Type II coma corrector, 8" f/5 "ONTC" Newtonian telescope riding on a ZWO AM5 Strain Wave Mount, ZWO OAG-L off axis system, ASI 174MM Mini guide camera, ASIAIR Plus.
Fig. 2 - Labeled image.
Fig. 3 - Search chart for NGC 2264. Copyright 2025 'The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project', www.siaris.net.