The star 15 Mon
Images
I have a few targets in mind for the winter season, but for Thanksgiving imaging I asked my wife and daughter what they'd like to see. Christmas Tree! NGC2264 is actually the Cone Nebula (far left, sideways) and the Christmas Tree Cluster (to right of the cone). A vast complex of gas and dust spreads to the bright star Monoceros and nearby Snowflake Cluster and Fox Fur Nebula. Captured from visible light, hydrogen alpha and oxygen 3.
2023-11-24
The 'Christmas Tree' is a group of stars in the blueish area lower left that form a triangle with a 'trunk.' It is oriented the same direction as the Cone Nebula, that is indeed the cone you see. There is a ton of nebulosity in the region and one glowing spot isn't a star, it's a galaxy. This is NGC2264, the Christmas Tree Cluster!
2022-11-16