Finally, the evening of April 10th was cloudless, moonless and almost no wind. This is an image of the Rosette Nebula (NGC 2244), also known as the "Skull Nebula." The image is composed of 30 and 60 sec image; 53 of each exposure.
The first image shows the location of the Rosette Nebula with respect to the Orion Constellation.
Look to the east of mighty Orion and you’ll see the constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. While its stars are faint, Monoceros holds a small treasure chest of superb deep-sky sights for backyard stargazers. Perhaps the most striking is the Rosette Nebula, an achingly beautiful blossom of glowing gas and dust where new stars are forming. The Rosette is an immense nebula, some three times larger than the Orion Nebula and three times farther away. As you see in the image, the nebula overlaps the star cluster NGC 2244 which has formed within the nebula and blown a bubble to give us a look inside. While hard to see the Rosette visually, even in large telescopes, the nebula is an excellent photographic target and the cluster is a superb sight.
Thanks for viewing and your comments are always welcomed.
