The Rosette Nebula in Monoceros
Copyright 2001 Hap Griffin
The Rosette Nebula, NGC 2237, certainly lives up to its name. A glowing cloud of hydrogen 130 light-years across, it is the birthplace of the loose star cluster in its interior (NGC 2244). This nebula is huge...although 2600 light-years distant, it spans roughly a degree of sky, or twice the diameter of the full moon. The central star cluster is visible to the naked eye, but the nebula itself is tough to see even in a telescope without a special optical filter such as a Lumicon UHC.
The dark, stringy objects scattered through the nebula are known as Bok Globules, named after Bart Bok, the astronomer who studied them extensively. They are regions of compressed gas and dust in the first stages of star formation.
Date/Location:
December 30, 2000 / February 19, 2001 Griffin/Hunter
Observatory Bethune, SC
Instrument: Meade f6.3 10" LX-200
Focal Ratio: Approx. f4 (utilizing focal reducer in GEG)
Guiding: Manual - Lumicon GEG
Conditions: Visually clear, but with moderate high level water
vapor
Weather: December - COLD! (16 F), Light breeze
February - 38 F, calm
Film: Kodak Elite Chrome 200
Exposure: Composite stack - 1 x 60 minutes, 1 x 45 minutes
Filters: None
Processing: Stacked in Registar 1.0, finished in Photoshop 5