Region around the cone nebula

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Region around the cone nebula, 2h31m, D750a, Takahashi FS-60CB, Vixen Polarie, Optolong L-enhance filter, PI, LR, PS

During the last weeks southerly winds brought warm weather and Sahara dust to our skies. On Thursday the dust had settled enough to make the night clear enough to set up the small refractor again.

The area around NGC 2264 which contains both the Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster is filled with glowing hydrogen gas and dust, resulting in a mix of emission, reflection and dark nebulae.

The setup used for this photo consists of the Takahashi FS-60CB with the 1.04x flattener, an Optolong L-enhance 2″ filter, and an astromodified Nikon D750. The mount was the Vixen Polarie. The individual subframes are unguided 30″ exposures at ISO 3200.

Region around the cone nebula, 2h31m, D750a, Takahashi FS-60CB, Vixen Polarie, Optolong L-enhance filter, PI, LR, PS
Region around the cone nebula, 2h31m, D750a, Takahashi FS-60CB, Vixen Polarie, Optolong L-enhance filter, DSS, Fitswork, LR, PS

Objects in the image are:

Bright nebulae:

  • NGC 2264 (including the Christmas Tree cluster and the Cone nebula)
  • Sh 2-273 – the whole HII region

Dark nebulae:

  • Barnard 38
  • Barnard 39

Reflection nebulae:

  • NGC 2261 Hubble‘s variable nebula
  • IC 2169 / LBN 903
  • NGC 2245 / LBN 904
  • NGC 2247 / LBN 901

Open clusters:

  • NGC 2259
  • NGC 2251