The Monkey Head nebula NGC 2174 is an H II emission nebula located in the constellation Orion and is associated with the open star cluster NGC 2175.  It is thought to be located about 6400 light-years away from earth.   The central 8th magnitude star actually creates a small reflection nebula component, with blue-magenta tint to the center of the nebula. The glowing cosmic cloud surrounds loose clusters of young stars. Covering an area larger than the full Moon, NGC 2174 can be found with binoculars near the head of the celestial hunter. To the lower part of the image is a Super Nova Remnant cataloged by Stewart Sharpless in the 1950s as catalog entry, sh2-247

IMAGE DETAILS:

• Date & Location:  November 6, 2011 - Bernville, PA

• Weather:  Calm wind, cold, start temp 24F - end temp 22F

• Sky Conditions:  Clear with average transparency

• SQM-L: Average Start 20.25 / Stop 20:45

• Optics:  TeleVue NP101is Refractor with 0.8x reducer 432mm @ f4.3

• Filter:  Astronomic  EOS clip-in CLS-CCD (Light Pollution Suppression)

• Mount:  AstroPhysics AP900GTO

• Guiding:  None - PEM active

• Camera:  Canon T1i (500D) Hap Griffin Modified - Baader UV/IR

• Exposure:  26 x 5 min @ ISO800 (total 2 hr - 10 min)

• Calibration Frames:  None (sub freezing)

• Processing:  Images Plus 3.82, PS CS4, Noise Ninja, GradientXTerminator, NIK 

• Comments:  I had a short window to capture this target, moonset was at 3:42am and imaging was started at 3:55am and completed by 6:30am...about 1 hour before sunrise.