Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2019 February 7
                                      [2]
                    Fox Fur, Unicorn, and Christmas Tree
  Image Credit & Copyright [3] : Stanislav Volskiy [4] , Chilescope Team [5]

Explanation: Clouds of glowing hydrogen gas fill this colorful skyscape in the
faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros [6] , the Unicorn. A star forming
region cataloged as NGC 2264 [7] , the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust
is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission nebulae [8]
excited by energetic light from newborn stars with dark [9] interstellar dust
clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to the hot, young
stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue reflection nebulae [10] . The
telescopic image [11]  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 the Fox Fur Nebula [12] , whose dusty, convoluted pelt
lies near the top, bright variable star S Monocerotis immersed in the
blue-tinted haze near center, and the Cone Nebula [13]  pointing in from the
right side of the frame. Of course, the stars of NGC 2264 [14] are also known
as the Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular tree shape is seen on its
side here. Traced by brighter stars it has its apex at the Cone Nebula. The
tree's broader base is centered near S Monocerotis [15] .

                      Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [27] (MTU [28] ) & Jerry Bonnell [29]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1902/FoxFur_new_color_2048px.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] https://volskiy.smugmug.com/
  [5] http://www.chilescope.com
  [6] http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/mon/index.ht...
  [7] http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n2264.html
  [8] ap051223.html
  [9] ap190202.html
  [10] ap181231.html
  [11] https://volskiy.smugmug.com/Nebulas/i-Z9fzftC
  [12] ap151230.html
  [13] http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/nebula/pr...
  [14] http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/
2416-sig05-028b-Spitzer-IRAC-View-of-NGC-2264
  [15] http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/15mon.htm...
  [16] ap190206.html
  [17] archivepix.html
  [18] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [19] lib/aptree.html
  [20] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [21] calendar/allyears.html
  [22] /apod.rss
  [23] lib/edlinks.html
  [24] lib/about_apod.html
  [25] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [26] ap190208.html
  [27] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [28] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [29] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [30] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [31] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [32] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [33] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [34] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [35] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [36] http://www.mtu.edu/

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