Space Saturday VII
Once again, due to circumstances out of my (and some in my) control, this week’s Space Saturday is late. As this is becoming a common thing, I am not going to worry about it and neither should you! Just remember, “Saturday” is to be taken loosely. So now I bring you this week’s Space Saturday: the Fox Fur Nebula.
Image (clickable) credit: Russell Croman.
The Fox Fur Nebula resides in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn - which it looks nothing like…) near Orion and Canis Major. The Nebula is part of NGC 2264 (the Christmas Tree Cluster) with S Mon at its center. NGC 2264 lies approximately 2500-2700 light years away and contains around 250 stars. The red gasses are from hydrogen gas stimulated by ionizing starlight and the blue gas is from reflection. The dark patches are from intestellar dust blocking and reacting with the emitted starlight.
For previous “saturdays”: Space Saturday Archive
Enjoy!
Ή χάρις του κυρίου ημων Ίησου Χριστου μεθ’ υμων.
If you draw back just a bit from the Fox Fur you would also see both the Christmas Tree and the Cone nebulae. I’ve got several shots if you could use them.
I would love to see any you have David! I did post Space Saturday XIV: The Christmas Tree Cluster which is extremely beautiful.
I just checked out your page and you have a great collection of images! I will have to check back when I do future Space Saturday posts.
Thanks for coming by David!