Spanning hundreds of light-years across the Monoceros constellation, this stunning 4-panel mosaic captures the vast and intricate connection between two iconic nebulae—the Cone Nebula (NGC 2264) and the Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237)—revealing their structure in exquisite Sulfur-II (SII), Hydrogen-alpha (Hα), and Oxygen-III (OIII) narrowband detail.

On the left, the towering Cone Nebula, shaped by intense stellar winds and radiation, stands like a shadowy pillar of interstellar dust and ionized gas. This dark structure, nearly 7 light-years tall, is being slowly eroded by the ultraviolet light of nearby young, hot stars in the Christmas Tree Cluster, carving out glowing ridges and intricate filaments of gas.

Stretching toward the right, the Rosette Nebula dominates the scene with its vast, circular structure—an enormous star-forming complex located about 5,000 light-years away. At its heart lies the open cluster NGC 2244, whose blazing young stars flood the nebula with ultraviolet radiation, ionizing the surrounding gas and sculpting a luminous cavity filled with intricate tendrils of material. The nebula’s layered appearance reveals shock fronts, dark dust lanes, and vast plumes of ionized gas driven outward by stellar feedback.

This SHO palette brings out the nebulae’s complex composition: sulfur (SII) in deep red-orange hues, hydrogen-alpha (Hα) in golden-yellow tones, and oxygen (OIII) in striking blue-greens, highlighting the energetic processes shaping these celestial structures. The seamless blending of this 4-panel mosaic unveils a breathtaking connection between these regions, illustrating the turbulent yet beautiful cycle of star formation and destruction that defines the Milky Way’s vast stellar nurseries.

Image Description and Details :

In this image of the Cone and Fox fur Nebulas, I've tried to make it as deep as possible within the available time. The Ha stands out all around the FOV and the Oiii shows quite well permeating the image. It was assembled as HOO in a somewhat unusual rendition for this object, one of my favorites.Shot at Barcarena, Portugal (Bortle 7-8), from 18th to 24th January, and processed in PixInsight.Frames:Ha: 150 x 5 minO3: 110 x 5 minRGB: 3 x 20 x 1 minTotal integration: 23 hoursTechnical details:Telescope: TS Optics Triplet APO 800/115Flatenner: TS Optics 3'' 0.79xMount: SW EQ6-R ProCamera: QHYCCD 268MFilters: Baader Ha 8.5nm and Oiii 7.0 nm. Optolong RGB.

Copyright: André Vilhena

10 hour in HOO

100 x 3 min Ha + 100 x 3 min OIII

Telescope: TS Newton 10" f/4 CF, GPU 1x

Camera: ZWO ASI294MM Pro

Filters: Astronomik 6nm

Mount: iOptron CEM70-NUC

Software: PixInsight, Photoshop, Lightroom

Copyright: Andrei Gusan

Image Description and Details :

ASA Astrosysteme ASA20NG-OK3 f 3.6, FLI Proline 16803
Frames: Red: 26x300" + Green: 23x600" + Blue: 26x300" + Lum: 60x600" + H-Alpha: 35x1200"

Total: 29.8 hours

Copyright Information: Chiliescope / Ruben Barbosa

This image is composed of 3 tiles, in it we can see several nebulae, including the cone nebula, the fox fur nebula and the cumulus of the Christmas tree. This area is located in the constellation of Monoceros, about 2700 light years from Earth.
This image consists of 35 images in Ha from 900" to bin2 x3 and 10 to 900" for OIII and SII to bin2 x3.
Equipment:
Telescope RC10 Truss GSO
Camera CCD Atik16200
Mount Mesu 200
Set filter narrowband Baader 2"
Camera guide Lodestar x2
Guidding with OAG by TS

Copyright: Juan Ignacio Jimenez cuesta