NGC 2174 - The Monkey Head Nebula

by Kyle Goodwin

Objects in field: Monkey Head Nebula, NGC 2174, NGC 2175, IC 2159, LBN 854, Sh2-252

Equipment: Astro-Physics StarFire GTX 130mm f/6.3 (3.5"), Player One Poseidon-M Pro

Integration: 39h 45m

The Monkey Head Nebula is an interesting structure for an emission nebula because it has a bright open cluster and star forming region at the center creating strong stellar winds and intricate details and knots in the dust and gasses that form the nebula. It’s quite bright, fairly large, and thus a pretty popular target, but there’s a lot of detail and fainter nebulosity around the edges that…