My Astrophotography – NGC 2264 (Christmas Tree Cluster)

NGC 2264 (Christmas Tree Cluster)

• NGC 2264 is an emission nebula containing an open star cluster.
  o
• More precisely, the designation NGC 2264 refers to three objects treated as one:
  o
  – The Christmas Tree Cluster
  – (an open cluster of young stars embedded in the same glowing hydrogen cloud.)
  o
  – The Cone Nebula
  – (a pillar of gas and dust in a turbulent star‑forming region._
  o
  – The Fox Fur Nebula
  – (an HII emission nebula, and it forms part of the larger NGC 2264 star‑forming complex.)

• Object Name
  NGC 2264

• Object Type
  Diffuse / Emission Nebula

• Constellation
  Monoceros

• Magnitude
  +6.8

• Distance
  2,300 light-years

• Annotate

• Field of View
  (widefield)

Telescope:

Mount:

Accessory:

Sky-Watcher Esprint 80ED Triplet

Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT

ZWO ASIair Plus / PixInsight

Camera:

Guiding:

Filter:

ZWO ASI585MC Pro cooling

ZWO ASI1200MM

2″ Optolong eNhance

Bortle Scale: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire (Bortle 6.6)

• Date:
  Mon 20th Oct 2026

• Moonlit:
  1% Waning Crescent phase

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NGC 2264

Christmas Tree Cluster

Open Cluster / diffuse

+3.9

2,400 light years / 35 light years across

Mon (Monoceros / The Unicorn)

06h 40m 58s

+09° 89′ 56″

Enlarge on click the map.

(Click the map above for a large view.)