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Emission Nebula

Rosette Nebula – Sharpless 275 – C49

The Rosette Nebula is a large emission nebula located in the constellation Monoceros, approximately 5,219 light-years away from Earth, reaching its annual culmination at astronomical midnight at the end of December.

The Rosette Nebula is a stunning star-forming region spanning about 100 light-years across, known for its distinctive circular shape with a dark center. It contains an open star cluster, NGC 2244, at its heart, which was discovered by John Flamsteed in 1690. The nebula’s striking appearance is sculpted by the winds and radiation from the young stars in this central cluster, estimated to be about 4 million years old. The Rosette Nebula is a popular target for astrophotographers due to its large size, intricate structure, and the beautiful contrast between the glowing gas and dark dust lanes.

Names and Catalog numbers

  • Rosette Nebula
  • Skull Nebula
  • Caldwell 49
  • NGC 2237
  • NGC 2238
  • NGC 2239
  • NGC 2244 (central cluster)
  • NGC 2246
  • Sh2-275

Position and the cosmic neighborhood

The Rosette Nebula can be found in the winter sky between the stars Betelgeuse in Orion and Procyon in Canis Minor. To locate it, draw an imaginary line between these two stars and look just south of the midpoint. The nebula shares its celestial neighborhood with other prominent winter deep-sky objects like the Orion Nebula and the Horsehead Nebula, making this region of the sky particularly rich for astrophotographers.

Nice to Know

  • The Rosette Nebula was initially misclassified as a globular cluster due to its compact appearance.
  • It contains at least 97 variable stars, providing valuable data for stellar evolution studies.
  • The nebula’s distinctive shape is created by stellar winds from the central star cluster carving out the gas at its center.
  • The first astrophotography image including the Rosette Nebula was taken on February 8th, 1893, by Isaac Roberts.

Brightness, distance and size

The Rosette Nebula has an apparent magnitude of 9.0, making it invisible to the naked eye but a good target for astrophotography, even from light-polluted areas. Located approximately 5,219 light-years away from Earth, the nebula spans about 100 light-years in diameter. In terms of apparent size, it covers an area of about 1.3 degrees in the night sky, which is larger than the full moon. This combination of size and brightness makes the Rosette Nebula an excellent subject for both wide-field and detailed astrophotography, suitable for various equipment setups from DSLR cameras with telephoto lenses to larger telescopes.

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