The Rosette Nebula: Emission-line image | WIYN Telescope

The Rosette Nebula: Emission-line image | WIYN Telescope

This is a stunning emission-line image of the Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237). It is found in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn). The image was taken at the National Science Foundation's 0.9-m telescope on Kitt Peak with the Mosaic camera, and is presented here in false color (hydrogen alpha, OIII oxygen, and SII sulfur respectively red, green and blue, using five ten-minute exposures each). The Rosette is a prominent star formation region, glowing due to ultraviolet light from the young, hot, blue stars whose winds also cleared the central hole. It is enormously large on the sky, covering more than six times the area of the full moon.

Distance: ~5,000 light years

The WIYN Consortium, led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Indiana University, are operational responsible for the historic 0.9-meter (36-inch) WIYN Telescope at the National Science Foundation's Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Credit: T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Release Date: Jan. 22, 2004

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