This may be the most festive target in our night sky. A beautiful target contrasted by many layers of dust clouds and dark nebula. NGC 2264 is the designation number that identifies two astronomical objects as a single object: the Cone Nebula, and the Christmas Tree Cluster. Two other objects are within this designation but not officially included, the Snowflake Cluster, and the Fox Fur Nebula. The top of the structure is the Cone Nebula overlaid with the Christmas Tree star formation. Just under the Cone Nebula is the Fox Fur Nebula, named after its resemblance to the fox furs common in our history.
This image consists of 32 240s & 123 360s exposures (a little over 14 hours) with the ASI071MC Pro & WO Z73 scope with flattener riding the SW EQ6r Pro mount. Processed manually in PixInsight.
All of the objects are located in the Monoceros constellation and are located about 800 parsecs or 2,600 light-years from Earth. NGC 2264 is the location where the Cone Nebula, the Stellar Snowflake Cluster and the Christmas Tree Cluster have formed in this emission nebula. For reference, the Stellar Snowflake Cluster is located 2,700 light years away in the constellation Monoceros. The Monoceros constellation is not typically visible by the naked eye due to its lack of colossal stars. The Snowflake Cluster was granted its name due to its unmistakable pinwheel-like shape and its assortment of bright colors. The Christmas Tree star formation consists of young stars obscured by heavy layers of dust clouds. These dust clouds, along with hydrogen and helium are producing luminous new stars.
The Cone Nebula is very similar to the famous Pillars of Creation. At 430mm of focal length with this telescope, the entire tree and more was able to fit in our frame. You can see the Cone Nebula on the top right and the Fox Fur nebula around the upper middle-left (just below the bright middle star). The Christmas Tree cluster can easily be seen, going from the Cone Nebula to the bright star in the center. That bright star represents the tree base.
I hope you enjoy this image as much as I do. She’s a beauty!
