Glowing hydrogen gas fills this gorgeously detailed sky view [
http://www.rc-astro…] centered on the variable star S Mon in the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros [
http://www.hawastso…], the Unicorn. A star forming region (NGC 2264 [
http://www.seds.org…n2264.html ]), the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission nebulae [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] excited by energetic light from newborn [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] stars with dark [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue reflection nebulae [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The wide vista spans about 1.5 degrees or nearly 3 full moons, covering 70 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the Cone Nebula [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (far left), the Fox Fur Nebula [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], whose convoluted pelt lies just below S Mon, and the Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular Christmas Tree cluster [
http://www.astrocru…] appears sideways here, with its apex at the Cone Nebula and its broader base centered on S Mon.
Explanation
Glowing hydrogen gas fills this gorgeously detailed sky view [
http://www.rc-astro…] centered on the variable star S Mon in the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros [
http://www.hawastso…], the Unicorn. A star forming region (NGC 2264 [
http://www.seds.org…n2264.html ]), the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission nebulae [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] excited by energetic light from newborn [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] stars with dark [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue reflection nebulae [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The wide vista spans about 1.5 degrees or nearly 3 full moons, covering 70 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the Cone Nebula [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (far left), the Fox Fur Nebula [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], whose convoluted pelt lies just below S Mon, and the Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular Christmas Tree cluster [
http://www.astrocru…] appears sideways here, with its apex at the Cone Nebula and its broader base centered on S Mon.
Explanation
