Posted on 04/09/2012 9:11:52 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: What do the following things have in common: a cone, the fur of a fox, and a Christmas tree? Answer: they all occur in the constellation of the unicorn (Monoceros). Pictured above as a star forming region cataloged as NGC 2264, the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars with dark interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to the hot, young stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue reflection nebulae. The above image spans about 3/4 degree or nearly 1.5 full moons, covering 40 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the Fox Fur Nebula, whose convoluted pelt lies at the upper left, bright variable star S Mon immersed in the blue-tinted haze just below the Fox Fur, and the Cone Nebula near the tree's top. Of course, the stars of NGC 2264 are also known as the Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular tree shape traced by the stars appears sideways here, with its apex at the Cone Nebula and its broader base centered near S Mon.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: Rolf Geissinger]
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So how come you can't see it then? Of course, it's too dim. Way too dim. Well, can you just brighten it up to see what it would look like if it were, you know, a thousand times brighter, or a million times brighter??? The whole thing becomes philosophical. It's a great picture, and represents a really existing object, but don't be deceived.
A thing of Wonder.
Thanks, Sunken Civ!
I don’t know, when I stare at it long enough I see a puppy.........
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