The Rosette nebula in Monoceros
auteur: D.De Martin/Novapix
référence: a-neb22-37003
Image Size 300 DPI: 38 * 36 cm
The north is at top. Discovered by John Flamsteed about 1690, the Rosetta Nebula is a vast cloud of dust and gas, extending over an area of more than 1 degree across, or about 5 times the area covered by the full moon. Within the nebula, open star cluster NGC 2244 is situated, consisted of the young stars which recently formed from the nebula's material, and the brightest of which make the nebula shine by exciting its atoms to emit radiation. Star formation is still in progress in this vast cloud of interstellar matter. Although various values for its distance occur in the literature, an avarage value of about 5,500 light-years is generally accepted. This image is based on data acquired by the Oschin Telescope at the Mount Palomar Observatory.