The beautiful and oft-imaged Rosette Nebula.
This HII region lies at a distance of approximately 5,000 lightyears, and spans a region approximately 130 lightyears in diameter. The nebula is home to several thousand young stars that were born from the nebula itself. These stars emit radiation that excites the atoms in the nebula, which in turn causes them to emit radiation - thus producing the emission nebula we see.
When I first found out that this DSO has a second moniker of "The Flaming Skull Nebula," I knew that i had to do my best to try and represent that in an image.
I'd previously found and represented the "Skull" aspect, but it took some time, patience, and luck with the weather to finally find and represent the "flames."
Click here to visit the Image on Astrobin, or
skip straight to the full resolution!
Thanks for looking!