NGC 2174 (Orion)
Fig. 1 - Young bluish and white stars sprinkled amongst glowing clouds of hydrogen: The emission nebula NGC 2174 in the constellation Orion, photographed with an 8-inch f/5 Newtonian reflector on a ZWO AM5 mount.
| Object name: | Constellation: | Coordinates: | Apparent size: | Visual brightness: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 2174 | Orion | 06h09m / +20°40' | 40' x 30' | 6.9 mag |
| NGC 2175 | Orion | 06h10m / +20°29' | 18' | 6.8 mag |
The H II emission nebula NGC 2174 ("Monkey head nebula") and the open star cluster NGC 2175 in the constellation Orion. The ionized hydrogen cloud NGC 2174 is 6,400 light-years from Earth and was discovered by the French astronomer Édouard Jean-Marie Stephan in 1877. Young stars near the center of the nebula generate stellar winds and high energy radiation that causes the nebula's material to shift into complex shapes.
The star cluster NGC 2175 is associated with the nebula and was probably discovered before 1654 by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna and re-discovered by German astronomer Karl Christian Bruhns in 1857. It's not quite clear which NGC number belongs to the nebula (and even to what part of the nebula) and which number belongs to the star cluster (source: Wikipedia).
Seventy-three 3-minute exposures (219 minutes total exposure) at gain 100 and -10°C, taken on October 31 / November 1, 2024, were added for this shot with Astro Pixel Processor (APP) software and the final image processing was done in Photoshop. Darks, flats, bias and darkflats were used.
Equipment: Cooled ASI 2600MC Pro camera, TeleVue Paracorr Type II coma corrector, 8" f/5 "ONTC" Newtonian telescope riding on a ZWO AM5 Strain Wave Mount, ZWO OAG-L off axis system, ASI 174MM Mini guide camera, ASIAIR Plus.
Fig. 2 - Search chart for NGC 2174. Copyright 2024 'The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project', www.siaris.net.