Date Posted: 9/10/2025
Date Taken: 1/10/2015, 1/16/2015
Scope: William Optics Megrez 90 with Televue 0.8x FR/FF, f/5.5, 496mm
Camera: QSI 583wsg with Astrodon Tru-Balance E-Series Gen2 filters
Temp: -15C
Mount: Losmandy G-11 Gemini
Guiding: Lodestar, off-axis
Exposure: LRGB 300:125:125:120; luminance 10 ,in unbined, RGB 5min unbinned.

Calibrated and Stacked with CCDStack 2; RGB combine and DDP with Maxim DL; Final processing with CS4.

NGC 2264 actually denotes two distinct objects in a much larger complex; the Cone Nebula, which is the brighter nebula at the right tip if the larger nebula, and the Christmas Tree Cluster, which is an open cluster of stars immediately to the left of the Cone Nebula's tip. The larger nebula complex also includes the Fox Fur Nebula, the bluish reflection nebula just right of center. Just below the Fox Fur Nebula you can also see the Snowflake Cluster. The Christmas Tree Nebula denotes the entire larger nebula complex, resembling a Christmas tree (on its side in this image). It contains many interesting arcs and filaments of hydrogen gas sculpted by stellar winds from stars within the nebula. It is located in the winter constellation Monoceros, and is about 2350 light years away.

This is a partial re-process of an image originally taken in 2015.