The Cone Nebula and its surroundings, the Christmas Tree Cluster and the Fox-Fur Nebula, are extremely interesting objects for astronomers and provide stunning views.
This vast Gas cloud complex was originally discovered by the British astronomer William Herschel, the discoverer of Uranus, in 1785. Also known as Sh2-273, this nebulous complex is an active star-forming region. Although all three objects are different, the Christmas Tree Cluster and the Cone Nebula both share the name of NGC 2264

The Cone Nebula

While the H II region - a region of ionized gas and plasma - of the nebulous complex spans on several light-years across, the Cone itself is only a small part of it. This Diffuse Nebula is illuminated by the young, hot stars it hides in its womb. No one knows exactly what led the nebula to form such a bizzare and simple cone-like shape. At about 2700 light-years from Earth, the nebula is one of the Hubble picture shown above is one of the best-known nebula pictures today. This picture shows the 2.5 light-year high upper part of the cone nebula and the width of the arc around it is at it’s highest point 65 times larger than the solar system! and was taken by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).

The Christmas Tree Cluster

The Christmas Tree Cluster is an open cluster and the result of the collapsing gas from the nebula itself. Indeed, the region experiences very strong stellar wind, therefore giving birth to young, hot stars which in turn ionize the gas and make it glow, resulting in the magnificient sights of nebula that we have.

The Fox-Fur Nebula

The texture and color of the Fox-Fur Nebula are what gave it its somewhat unusual name, but the grasping pictures of it by the CFHT Telescope are so vivid that you want to touch it (you’ll probably get lost in the fur though :/ ). One of my favorite astronomy pictures because of the filaments of gas that you can see. Truly Awesome.

Thanks,
Clement

Image Credit: CFHT, Hubble, David De Martin