- NGC 2175 Monkey Head Nebula
NGC 2175 is a beautiful emission nebula and possible open cluster in the constellation Auriga. It is thought to have been first observed by Giovanni Batista Hodierna, the discoverer of numerous open clusters in the region around Auriga. There is still some debate as to the exact nature of this object. The nebula is usually identified as NGC 2175, while the open cluster it is supposed to surround has been identified as NGC 2174 or Collinder 84. However, Archinal and Hynes (Star Clusters, Willmann-Bell Publishers, 2003) doubt whether a cluster actually exists within the nebula. They list it as a "possible cluster" containing around 20 stars.
There is no doubt whether the nebula exists. It is fairly bright (visual magnitude 6.8), and its rosy central color reminds me of the Rosette Nebula (NGC 2244) in Monoceros, although it is considerably smaller (around 18 arc-min across). It is located around 6350 LY away.
This is an object for which I acquired Hα, Hβ and OIII images. The color composite image shown above was produced from hydrid red, green and blue images created by combining the broad-band red, green and blue images with the narrow-band Hα, Hβ and OIII images.
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