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Monoceros

Monoceros is a faint constellation on the celestial equator, introduced in the 17th century by the Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius. Its name means 'unicorn' in Greek, and it lies near prominent constellations such as Orion and Canis Major.

Source: britannica.com

APODs including "Monoceros"

The Cone Nebula from Hubble

15/03/2017

The Cone Nebula from Hubble
Image Credit: NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Stars are forming in the gigantic dust pillar called the Cone Nebula. Cones, pillars, and majestic flowing shapes abound in stellar nurseries where natal clouds of gas and dust are buffeted by energetic winds from newborn stars. The Cone Nebula, a well-known example, lies within the bright galactic star-forming region NGC 2264. The Cone was captured in unprecedented detail in this close-up composite of several observations from the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. While the Cone Nebula, about 2,500 light-years away in Monoceros, is around 7 light-years long, the region pictured here surrounding the cone's blunted head is a mere 2.5 light-years across. In our neck of the galaxy that distance is just over half way from our Sun to its nearest stellar neighbors in the Alpha Centauri star system. The massive star NGC 2264 IRS, seen by Hubble's infrared camera in 1997, is the likely source of the wind sculpting the Cone Nebula and lies off the top of the image. The Cone Nebula's reddish veil is produced by glowing hydrogen gas.