Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2015 January 5
A Fox Fur, a Unicorn, and a Christmas Tree
Image Credit & Copyright: R. Colombari & Francesco Antonucci; Data: Subaru, ESO, & F. Antonucci
Explanation: What do the following things have in common: a cone, the fur of a fox, and a Christmas tree? Answer: they all occur in the constellation of the unicorn (
Monoceros).
Pictured as a star forming region and
cataloged as NGC 2264, the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish
emission nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars
with dark interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to the hot, young stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue
reflection nebulae. The
image spans about the diameter of a full moon, covering about 30
light-years at the distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the
Fox Fur Nebula, whose convoluted pelt lies on the lower right, bright
variable star S Mon visible just above the Fox Fur, and the
Cone Nebula on the image left. Given their distribution, the stars of NGC 2264 are also known as the
Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular tree shape traced by the stars appears here with its apex at the
Cone Nebula on the left with its broader base near
S Mon on the right.
Tomorrow's picture: hubble andromeda
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