NGC 2237, the “Rosette” of the sky – 23 Oct. 2017

Among the largest diffuse nebulae we can observe, NGC 2237 is well-known with its “Rosette” nickname, because of its complex shape.

NGC 2237, the "Rosette" Nebula

NGC 2237, the “Rosette” Nebula

The image above comes from the average of 20, 120-seconds exposures, unfiltered, remotely taken with the 16″-f/3.75 Tenagra III (“Pearl”) robotic unit part of Tenagra Observatories in Arizona. It was carefully processed to show the many subtle details part of the nebula. The long vertical “rays”coming out from the brightest stars are the typical signature (“blooming“) of science CCD cameras.

The nebula seems to surround the open cluster NGC 2244, which was born there about 4 millions of years ago. This complex nebula is located at about 5000 light years from us and it is about 100 light years large. NGC 2237 is on eof the most studied emission nebulae inthe sky and it is visible with small telescopes in the Monoceros constellation, but it needs dark skies, far from light pollution.

The image above is truly spectacular, as it covers a large field of view, covering the entire nebula, but it is also very deep.

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