The Christmas Tree Nebula... NGC 2264
(Click on Picture for larger view)

Added December 3, 2019 ...
Christmas Tree Nebula (NGC 2264) I took this image early Tuesday morning (Dec 3, 2019) using the new capture software N.I.N.A. Once I had the software set, I was able to retire for the night as the computer/software took over resulting in a spectacular set of images reduced to this single 1hr 8m photo. (I also had it programmed to acquire the California and the Orion nebulae ... posted separately)

This 'festive' nebula is high in the NE around midnight in early December and not visible to the naked eye. However, with time-lapse photography, brilliant colors appear among the vast region of stars in the Milky Way. The feature that forms the so-called Christmas tree is actually compose of four different nebulae; the 'Snowflake', 'Cone', 'Fox Fur', and 'Christmas Tree'. These dust clouds, along with hydrogen and helium are producing luminous new stars. The distance is roughly 2,600 light-years from us.

The Techy Stuff ... For those who want to know ...
Telescope: Orion ED80T telescope (3.1 inches)
Mount: Celestron AVX
Mount Control: CPWI Capture software: N.I.N.A.
Camera: Altair Hypercam 294c ProTEC
Settings: gain 900 ... offset 50 ... Temp: -10°C
Filter: None
Sub frames: 32 at 2min ea
Calibration frames: Dark, Bias, and Flat ... 30ea
Stacked in DSS
Post Processing: PixInsight & Photoshop CC
Seeing conditions: 10 (Scale of 1-10)
Location: My Backyard Heavenly Garden

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