Cone Nebula
{{Short description|H II region in the constellation Monoceros}}
{{Infobox nebula
| name = Cone Nebula
| image = Cone Nebula (NGC 2264) Star-Forming Pillar of Gas and Dust.jpg
|caption= Taken on April 2, 2002 by the Hubble Space Telescope
| type= H II region
| type2 = dark nebula
| epoch = J2000.0
| ra = {{RA|06|41|15}}{{cite web|url=http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n2264.html|title=SEDS information on NGC2264|publisher=Students for the Exploration and Development of Space|accessdate=2009-03-27}}
| dist_ly = 2,700{{Cite APOD|date=7 January 2002|title=The Mysterious Cone Nebula|access-date=2009-03-27}}
| appmag_v = —
| size_v = 3 arcmins
| constellation = Monoceros
| radius_ly = 42,700 × sin( 10′ / 2 ) = 3-4 ly. radius
| absmag_v = —
| notes = Christmas Tree Cluster
| names = NGC 2264 (portion)
}}
File:Cone Nebula from the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter Schulman Telescope courtesy Adam Block.jpg surrounding it This image was taken from the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter Schulman Telescope.]]
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 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.
Description
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 from Earth.
The nebula is part of a much larger star-forming complex—the Hubble Space Telescope was used to capture images of forming stars in 1997.
See also
Notes and references
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Cone Nebula}}
- {{cite web|url=http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n2264.html|title=NGC 2264, the Cone Nebula and the Xmas Tree|work=SEDS Messier Database}}
- {{cite APOD |date=7 January 2002 |title=The Mysterious Cone Nebula}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023722/http://www.spacetelescope.org/bin/images.pl?embargo=0&viewtype=viewall&searchtype=freesearch&lang=en&string=2264 Cone Nebula pictures from ESA-Hubble]
- [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2002/11/image/b Hubble image of Cone Nebula]
- {{cite simbad|title=NAME Cone Nebula}}
{{NGC2264}}
Category:Astronomical objects discovered in 1785
Category:Perceptions of religious imagery in natural phenomena