The Cone Nebula is an HII region in Monoceros, and about 2,700 light-years from Earth. The Christmas Tree Cluster is enveloped by part of the nebulosity of the Cone Nebula (in the southern portion of NGC 2264) and the designation of NGC 2264 refers to both objects.
The shape of the cone stems from a dark dust from an absorption nebula positioned in front of a faint hydrogen emission nebula which is ionized by the brightest star in NGC 2264, S (15) Monocerotis, a variable star system.
I couldn't decide which cropping/orientation to use! I included 3 of them.
I also couldn't resist making my own Christmas Tree! (NASAs is MUCH better, of course. After all, it's NASA!) Of course, the colored lights on the tree were added in Photoshop, and totally fake (obviously).
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Askar 107PHQ w/ 0.7x reducer
ASI2600MM Pro with Antlia LRGB and SHO 2" filters in a ZWO 7-position EFW
ZWO EAF, ZWO AM5
Svbony SV106 guide scope with an ASI178MM guide camProcessed with PixInsight and Adobe Photoshop.
- Acquisition details
- Dates: Jan. 21, 2024
- Frames:
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Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2": 12×300″(1h)
Antlia 3nm Narrowband Oxygen III 2": 12×300″(1h)
Antlia 3nm Narrowband Sulfur II 2": 12×300″(1h)
Antlia V-Pro Blue 2": 20×60″(20′)
Antlia V-Pro Green 2": 19×60″(19′)
Antlia V-Pro Red 2": 16×60″(16′) - Integration:
- 3h 55′
- Avg. Moon age:
- 10.75 days
- Avg. Moon phase:
- 82.85%
Holy cow Greg!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These are fantastic!!!!!!!! You killed it! These made my night 🙂
OMGosh, Greg, this is SOOO fantastic! Borrowed it for our VAS Facebook! <3
@michele-bayliss @maura-kelley Thanks so much Michele and Maura! I appreciate the feedback.
So, which crop of the image do you think is the most appealing?
Greg
Great. beautiful image and love the color pallette.. I've shot this before with a 1600 camera but had trouble deciding on a color palette. Why didn't you take this before the 25th? You'll have to bring this back for the 2024 Christmas.
Terri
@terri Thanks, Terri! I know, right? Well, that's plenty of time to 'decorate' the tree a little more realistically!
Deciding on the colors, brightness, crop was a nightmare! I finally just had to make a decision and go with it (except for the crops, that is).
Greg
I decided to try a different look, for those partial to desertscapes. I liken the last one for those partial to seascapes. 🤣
The Cone Nebula is an HII region in Monoceros, and about 2,700 light-years from Earth. The Christmas Tree Cluster is enveloped by part of the nebulosity of the Cone Nebula (in the southern portion of NGC 2264) and the designation of NGC 2264 refers to both objects.
The shape of the cone stems from a dark dust from an absorption nebula positioned in front of a faint hydrogen emission nebula which is ionized by the brightest star in NGC 2264, S (15) Monocerotis, a variable star system.
See the first post for particulars. Astrobin link: https://astrob.in/mvwkmh/0/
