NGC2264 Cone Nebula and Fox Fur

[Barry-Wilson]

From Wikipedia: "The Cone Nebula is an H II region in the constellation of Monoceros. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 26, 1785, at which time he designated it H V.27. The nebula is located about 830 parsecs or 2,700 light-years away from Earth. The Cone Nebula forms part of the nebulosity surrounding the Christmas Tree Cluster. The designation of NGC 2264 in the New General Catalogue refers to both objects and not the nebula alone.

The diffuse Cone Nebula, so named because of its apparent shape, lies in the southern part of NGC 2264, the northern part being the magnitude-3.9 Christmas Tree Cluster. It is in the northern part of Monoceros, just north of the midpoint of a line from Procyon to Betelgeuse.

The cone's shape comes from a dark absorption nebula consisting of cold molecular hydrogen and dust in front of a faint emission nebula containing hydrogen ionized by S Monocerotis, the brightest star of NGC 2264. The faint nebula is approximately seven light-years long (with an apparent length of 10 arcminutes), and is 2,700 light-years away from Earth."

This image has been a delight to process and much simpler than my last image of the 4 panel mosaaic of IC59-63. I do particularly enjoy the wonderful 'texture' of the Fox Fur and the delicate blushing orange/yellow reflection nebula seemingly floating above the Cone. The bright blue stars of course needed some taming and careful care when combining the Ha to avoid excessive ringing.

Details:

• TEC140
• 10 Micron GM2000HPS II UP
• QSI690wsg-8
• Astrodon filters
• Ha (3nm) 23 x 1200s; Lum 48 x 600s; R 26 x 600s; G 24 x 600s; B 24 x 600s
• Total integartion 28 hours
• Data acquisition: Barry Wilson & Steve Milne at our shared remote rig e-Eye, Spain.
• Processing: Barry Wilson using PI, capture SGP.

Thanks for looking & CS!

[laser_jock99]

Nice image- I love this area of sky.

[Barry-Wilson]

2 hours ago, laser_jock99 said:

Nice image- I love this area of sky.

Cheers - it is a fabulous area in either NB it btoadband I agree.

[Allinthehead]

Well that's some view. Beautiful.

[PhotoGav]

Lovely one Barry. Definitely worth clicking for the hi-res version - it has a marvellous 3D quality to it.

22 hours ago, Barry-Wilson said:

Thanks for looking & CS!

What's this 'CS' you refer to?!? ?  I can only imagine it is the old version of PhotoShop, but that is strange as you are a signed up lifetime member of the PI Only club...??!!!?

[tooth_dr]

Wow that’s something else. And I agree clicking on the big version is a must. Incredible. 

[Xiga]

On 12/01/2019 at 14:11, Barry-Wilson said:

From Wikipedia: "The Cone Nebula is an H II region in the constellation of Monoceros. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 26, 1785, at which time he designated it H V.27. The nebula is located about 830 parsecs or 2,700 light-years away from Earth. The Cone Nebula forms part of the nebulosity surrounding the Christmas Tree Cluster. The designation of NGC 2264 in the New General Catalogue refers to both objects and not the nebula alone.

The diffuse Cone Nebula, so named because of its apparent shape, lies in the southern part of NGC 2264, the northern part being the magnitude-3.9 Christmas Tree Cluster. It is in the northern part of Monoceros, just north of the midpoint of a line from Procyon to Betelgeuse.

The cone's shape comes from a dark absorption nebula consisting of cold molecular hydrogen and dust in front of a faint emission nebula containing hydrogen ionized by S Monocerotis, the brightest star of NGC 2264. The faint nebula is approximately seven light-years long (with an apparent length of 10 arcminutes), and is 2,700 light-years away from Earth."

This image has been a delight to process and much simpler than my last image of the 4 panel mosaaic of IC59-63. I do particularly enjoy the wonderful 'texture' of the Fox Fur and the delicate blushing orange/yellow reflection nebula seemingly floating above the Cone. The bright blue stars of course needed some taming and careful care when combining the Ha to avoid excessive ringing.

Details:

• TEC140
• 10 Micron GM2000HPS II UP
• QSI690wsg-8
• Astrodon filters
• Ha (3nm) 23 x 1200s; Lum 48 x 600s; R 26 x 600s; G 24 x 600s; B 24 x 600s
• Total integartion 28 hours
• Data acquisition: Barry Wilson & Steve Milne at our shared remote rig e-Eye, Spain.
• Processing: Barry Wilson using PI, capture SGP.

Thanks for looking & CS!

Even by your own lofty standards, that's just incredible Barry. 

There is almost a complete lack of any noise at all. It's like looking at a print on glass. Astonishing. 

[Seanelly]

Fantastic image.

[wimvb]

19 hours ago, PhotoGav said:

 

What's this 'CS' you refer to?!? ?  I can only imagine it is the old version of PhotoShop, but that is strange as you are a signed up lifetime member of the PI Only club...??!!!?

CS: clear skies, or: clear screen

Fantastic image, Barry.

[Ouroboros]

Absolutely fantastic image. As PhotoGav says, it has a 3D quality about it.  Most of us can only imagine obtaining an image like that, let alone get enough clear skies in the UK!  

[jjosefsen]

What a fantastic fov too, beautiful.

[Barry-Wilson]

On 13/01/2019 at 11:14, Allinthehead said:

Well that's some view. Beautiful.

Cheers Richard, much appreciated.  It is a pretty area ther's no doubt about it.

On 13/01/2019 at 12:23, PhotoGav said:

Lovely one Barry. Definitely worth clicking for the hi-res version - it has a marvellous 3D quality to it.

What's this 'CS' you refer to?!? ?  I can only imagine it is the old version of PhotoShop, but that is strange as you are a signed up lifetime member of the PI Only club...??!!!?

Thanks Gav.  CS - I know what you mean, not been a productive UK winter for sure.

On 13/01/2019 at 12:50, tooth_dr said:

Wow that’s something else. And I agree clicking on the big version is a must. Incredible. 

Thanks Adam.  Lots of data and the Ha really do make for a smooth image.

17 hours ago, Xiga said:

Even by your own lofty standards, that's just incredible Barry. 

There is almost a complete lack of any noise at all. It's like looking at a print on glass. Astonishing. 

Thanks Ciaran.  I do use NR to create the feel of a 35mm film photo however there is only gentle NR used in this image, with TGVDenoise being my favoured tool (but not the only NR process I use).

13 hours ago, Seanelly said:

Fantastic image.

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10 hours ago, wimvb said:

CS: clear skies, or: clear screen

Fantastic image, Barry.

You can see why the whole nebula is called the Christmas Tree Nebula ?.

10 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

Absolutely fantastic image. As PhotoGav says, it has a 3D quality about it.  Most of us can only imagine obtaining an image like that, let alone get enough clear skies in the UK!  

Thanks for the encouragement.

2 hours ago, jjosefsen said:

What a fantastic fov too, beautiful.

At 0.74"/px with a refractor you can see the detail but without getting frustrated by seeing or major capture technicalities, especially if you opted for an RC.

[ollypenrice]

Oooh yes, that's a winner. The high res. is an absolute must. There are structures in the dust that I haven't seen before.

Olly

[wimvb]

On 14/01/2019 at 16:16, jjosefsen said:

What a fantastic fov too, beautiful.

 

On 14/01/2019 at 08:43, Ouroboros said:

Absolutely fantastic image. As PhotoGav says, it has a 3D quality about it.  Most of us can only imagine obtaining an image like that, let alone get enough clear skies in the UK!  

 

On 14/01/2019 at 01:43, Xiga said:

Even by your own lofty standards, that's just incredible Barry. 

There is almost a complete lack of any noise at all. It's like looking at a print on glass. Astonishing. 

 

On 13/01/2019 at 13:23, PhotoGav said:

Lovely one Barry. Definitely worth clicking for the hi-res version - it has a marvellous 3D quality to it.

 

17 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Oooh yes, that's a winner. The high res. is an absolute must. There are structures in the dust that I haven't seen before.

Olly

 

Henceforth Barry Wilson shall be named Lord Hubble, Master of celestial photography.

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