NGC 2264 a.k.a. Christmas Tree Cluster
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Before going into details, the catalog number NGC 2264 does not refer to a single deep sky object, but to four, in the attached image only three can be seen, namely:
- Cone Nebula, an emission nebula that can be seen at the top of the image, being easy to find due to the shape of the nebula, the shape that gave it its name.
- The Christmas Tree Cluster, which stretches over the area between Cone Nebula and the bright star in the center.
- Fox Fur Nebula, which can be seen in the lower left, so named because of the apparent texture that this nebula has in that area.
The 4th DSO that completes the list of cosmic objects that belongs to NGC2264 and which is unfortunately missing from the attached image, is a small cluster, called Snowflake ( of course
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As general information, NGC2264 is about 2700 light-years from us, in the constellation Monoceros, and was discovered by William Herschel almost 250 years ago, on December 26, 1785. Being an emission nebula, NGC2264 is formed mainly from cosmic dust and gases, hydrogen being the most common. That blue "cloud" is just a patch of cosmic dust illuminated by the central star, easily visible.
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