The Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster

In the constellation of Monoceros (The Unicorn) and not far from the border with Taurus and Orion is a large area of nebulosity that contains the open cluster NGC 2264 which has been dubbed the Christmas Tree Cluster. Just below this is a darker area of gas and dust which is called the Cone Nebula. I have tried a few times to image this with the Dwarf 3 but my most successful attempt came a week ago on the 14th March (one day after looking at M101). Here is what I obtained after 506x15s (just over two hours) of observation (you can 'click' on this image to see it in more detail):-

 

All auto settings were used on the Dwarf (which includes using the duo band filter) and in Stellar Studio. The image has been binned x2 and the gain and saturation increased slightly in Photoshop. The first frame was taken at 20:00 UT and the last at 22:46 UT. Midpoint 21:23 UT. 

The Cone Nebula is quite obvious from its shape at the bottom centre of this picture. The Christmas Tree Cluster is the group of bright blue stars that can be seen above this and are responsible for creating the red emission that covers a lot of this frame. There is also a smaller patch of blue reflection nebula. The shape of the Christmas Tree is not so easy to see in this orientation where north is roughly up. The base of the tree is the near brightest star in the centre of the field and its 'topper' is the blue star just above the tip of the Cone Nebula. I have rotated (through 180 degrees) and cropped the original image so that the shape is more obvious:-

Certainly, it looks to me like the nebula provides the shape of the fir tree and the cluster stars are the shining lights and ornaments. However, the stars do seem to make a tree shape in themselves with the brightest star being the bole of tree.

I like the fact that the full frame image contains patches of dark nebulae against a glowing background of red emission light and this is particularly noticeable in the top right (see the image at the top of this blog).

I said that I had tried to image this cluster before and I just want to refer to this. The first time was on the 11th March where I decided to attempt using the Dwarf in EQ (or equatorial) mode. This was supposed to enable you to take longer exposures than 15s and I attempted frames of 60s. However, out of 120 frames that I took 84 failed for one reason or another and I haven't yet got to the bottom of it. I suspect the longer exposure meant that either more satellites were captured crossing the field of view or the tracking wasn't up to scratch.

Anyway, here is the resulting 36x60s image:-

 

Here I used the duo-band filter and the gain was set to 70. Auto settings were used in Stellar Studio. The first frame was taken at 21:03 UT and the last at 22:54 UT. Again I have increased the gain and saturation somewhat in Photoshop. The image is binned x2. You can see that the red emission has not come out so strongly in this shorter overall exposure. However, what EQ mode does give you is a larger image in the vertical direction. This is because the frames are not suffering from the field rotation you get in Alt-Az mode. Also the star in the centre of the fame has come out a lot bluer in this image. EQ mode is a better way to go provided that the frame rejection rate comes down. Perhaps a 30s exposure would be better.

I also had a go at this cluster on the 13th March but I made the mistake of using the Visual filter (which wouldn't get me any of the red emission light). Here is the resulting 53x15s image:-

 

Here the gain was 60. The first frame was taken at 21:41 UT and the last at 21:58 UT. Again I have increased the gain and saturation somewhat in Photoshop. The image is binned x2.  Notice that the blue reflection nebula does come out quite well.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

M101 The Pinwheel Galaxy

The good weather has continued recently and last Friday, the 13th March, we again had a good clear dark night (the moon was two days past last quarter). I thought I would try another object I haven't imaged before and this was Messier 101 - a face on spiral galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. The galaxy makes an equilateral triangle with the two end stars of the bear's tail, Alioth and Mizar. After 472x15s this is what I obtained:-

You can see a larger version of this image if you 'click' on it. You can see the well-displayed spiral arms of this galaxy with its blue patches of newly formed stars. The galaxy is relatively nearby at 21 million light years from us (compare this to the 2.5 million light years distance of the Andromeda galaxy). All auto settings were used on the Dwarf (this includes the astro filter) and in Stellar Studio. The image has been binned x2 and the gain and saturation increased slightly in Photoshop. The first frame was taken at 22:08 UT and the last at 00:28 UT on the 14th. Midpoint 23:18.

There are a number of other smaller galaxies in the same field of view and below I include an annotated version of this image.

 All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026

Galaxies NGC 4460 and NGC 4449

The BAA Deep Sky Section's object of interest for this month is the lenticular galaxy NGC 4460 and it was suggested that if we wanted to try it we could include the irregular galaxy NGC 4449 in the same field of view. I enjoy these challenges as I like to see what I can achieve with my Dwarf 3 smartscope. On the 10th March we had some more clearish weather and the moon was then one day from last quarter. There was some intermittent cloud which caused a few of the images to be rejected. After 466x15s I obtained this image (centred on the point midway between the two galaxies):-

 

NGC 4460 is the lens-shaped object that lies near the bright star in the upper centre of this frame (the star is actually a double). The irregular starburst galaxy NGC4449 (also called the Box Galaxy) is right of centre and the brightest galaxy in this image (you can 'click' on this image to see a larger version of it). The first 15s frame was taken at 20:55 UT and the last at 23:33 UT. Midpoint 22:14 UT. Auto parameters were used in the Dwarf 3 and in processing the final image in Stellar Studio. There are a number of other galaxies that appear in this image and so below I have produced a version where I have labelled them all:-

 All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026

Messier 78 - a reflection nebula in Orion

Since the beginning of March we have had an improving weather prospect with the cloudy wet weather being left behind in January and February. Exactly two weeks ago, on the 3rd March, we had some clear skies to play with, all be it with a full moon that rose at 18:38 UT. Astronomical twilight on this date ended about 19:20 UT. The BAA Journal for February (Vol. 136, No. 1) had a nice picture of M78 and as I haven't imaged this object before I thought I would give it a go. I started observing with my Dwarf 3 at 19:39 UT and finished at 21:46 and this is what I obtained in 364x15s:-

 

This object is in Orion and lies to the north of Orion's belt. It is part of the Orion B Molecular Cloud Complex and it is illuminated by two hot B-type stars (see image below). You can see in this image how there is a dearth of stars running down the middle of the frame. This is because the cloud of dust and gas is blotting out the stars that are behind it. To produce the image auto parameters were used in the Dwarf and in the processing in Stellar Studio. The image has been binned x2 and the gain and the saturation increased slightly in Photoshop.

 

The areas of diffuse nebula around M78 are quite complex and the above image is a crop of the original unbinned image from the Dwarf 3. As well as M78 and its two illuminating B-type stars there are also NGC2071, NGC2067 and NGC 2064. Interestingly there is also a variable patch of illumination called McNeil's Nebula (marked) which at the moment cannot be seen. It was discovered in 2004 by Jay McNeil using a 3 inch telescope.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

California Nebula (NGC1499)

A week ago on the 16th February we had a brief period of clear weather in the evening and I thought I would have a go at observing the California Nebula (NGC1499). This is a large emission nebula in the constellation of Perseus that lies just north of Xi Persei (Menkib). It gets its name because the shape of the nebula looks like the outline of the state of California in the USA. The gas in the nebula is probably being excited by the light from Xi Persei which is a blue giant emitting copious amounts of UV. I went out with the Dwarf 3 about 9pm and this was the image I obtained after 183x15s (nearly 46 minutes) of observation:-

 

I used auto settings on the Dwarf and in Stellar Studio. The Duo Band filter was used to bring out the nebulosity. Binned x2 and modified in Photoshop to increase the gain and saturation. As the integration proceeded a lot of cloud kept coming and going, but the internal processing rejected those frames where cloud was present (very useful). The first image was at 21:06 UT and the last at 22.25 UT (midpoint 21:46). It was one day before new moon.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

Leo II Galaxy (UGC6253)

The BAA Deep Sky Section has monthly objects of interest for us to have a go at imaging and this month's is the Local Group galaxy Leo II. Leo II is one of 24 known satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and was discovered in 1950 from an examination of the Palomar Sky Survey plates. It is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy that lies at about 210 kpc from our own. Four days ago on the 15th February after some dreadful weeks of cloudy wet weather we had a break in the clouds and I was able to have a go at imaging this galaxy. Fortunately, it was two days before new moon and the skies were nice and dark. I used my Dwarf 3 smartscope to observe this object and this is what I obtained after 253x15s (63.25 minutes) of integration:-

 

Leo II is the faint smudge of light in the centre of the field (you can enlarge this image by 'clicking on it'). With the Dwarf none of the stars in the galaxy are resolvable. This is not really surprising given the small aperture (35mm) of the Dwarf. Still, I was pleased that I could actually detect it. The first frame was taken st 22:45 UT and the last at 00:06 UT on the 16th. Midpoint was 23:26 UT. All auto parameters were used on the Dwarf and in the Stellar Studio for post processing. The image has been binned x2 and the gain increased in Photoshop slightly. Notice the galaxy to the right of the image. This is NGC3551 - an elliptical galaxy in Leo that is 150 Mpc from us (a tad further than Leo II). The bright star at the top left of the frame is 72 Leo which is an evolved bright giant star of spectral class M3II (you can see its organgey colour).

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

Another spectacular aurora (19/1/2026)

About a month ago we had another large solar storm that set of a memorable auroral display. I wrote up a report for the BAA and I reproduce it here: -

"I was initially unaware that an aurora was in progress on the evening of the 19th January. At about 21:15 UT I looked outside to see if it was clear, as I often do, in case I can start doing some observing. There was some light fragmented cloud about and stars could be seen through the gaps. What caught my attention almost immediately was that part of the cloud formation looking straight above my head looked like it was being lit by some sort of search light hidden amongst the clouds. It was very odd because I couldn’t see what the source of the light was and I began to wonder if it was some sort of laser beam or perhaps the forward landing lights of an aircraft or even the fuel dump of some rocket. It couldn’t have been the moon as its phase at this time was only one day past new and it had already set. I called to my wife as I thought it so unusual. The light was white in colour and as we watched it faded but then grew bright again slightly further south. I was perplexed, as I couldn’t understand it and I must admit that it gave me goosebumps.
 

When I went inside I had my answer because I heard my phone emitting a buzzing noise when it does when it receives an aurora alert. The Aurora Watch magnetometer at Sumburgh Head had just recorded an exceptionally large value of 1128.3 nT (compare this with the value of 950 nT that we had for the big storm on the 10th/11th May 2024). The significant alerts had started at 19:00 UT with a value of 347 nT and then 882.0 nT at 20:00. I grabbed my camera (a Sony RX100) and tripod and began taking pictures at 21:26 UT. What was clear was that the aurora was easily visible to the naked eye in the north. It was a bit like the coming of dawn in intensity (see the image below taken at 21:26 UT – this was 10 secs at ISO 1600, f/1.8 – and it is obvious that this image is over exposed). 

 

Note that neighbours house was confusingly lit up by their multicoloured lights in this image and this had nothing to do with the aurora!

At this time the aurora took the form of a homogeneous arc with a strong pink/red arc lying above a green one. At the top of the image taken at 21:26 is the star zeta Ursa Minoris and this was about 42 degrees above the horizon in altitude and in the red arc. I am sure that the arc stretched well above this. The boundary between the red arc and the green glow beneath was at an altitude of about 27 degrees. 4 minutes later at 21:30 the red arc developed some rays (see the picture taken below – 4s exposure, other settings the same). This view is looking NNE.

 

Looking in a more easterly direction at 21:32 UT (see the photo below – still ISO1600, f/1.8, 4s) I spotted another of the green patches of light developing near the horizon and away from the main auroral arc. 

 

 

The main bright star is alpha Leonis. It is possible to judge from this image how far east the arc stretches. It seems to end almost due east, namely at an azimuth of 90 degrees. At 21:34 UT a large green patch of sky developed in the SSW (see below). 

 

Orion can be made out to the left of the patch. The top of the patch is at around 43 degrees in altitude and the bottom 26 degrees. This had then disappeared by 21:35. Two minutes later at 21:37 UT another green patch developed at a lower altitude in the SSE (see below). 

 

 

This was a more intense green and Orion can be seen to the right of it. The bright star just above the horizon is Sirius. The top of the features was at an altitude of 32 degrees and the bottom of it at 18 degrees.

These green patches came and went in the south from 21:38 UT to 22:00 UT. The patchy cloud had thickened somewhat in this direction. At about 22:09 my attention was caught by a large bright red area of sky that was developing in the NE (see the image below taken at 22:12 UT – ISO1600, f1.8, 3.2s). 

The shape of the Big Dipper can be seen clearly to the left of this image. The very top of the picture is at an altitude of 67 degrees. The red light doesn’t seem to extend beyond an azimuth of 98 degrees. Following this more rays began to appear in the red arc (see the images below at 22:14 and 22:16 UT, respectively – same settings as before). 

A large red patch began to develop at 22:17 UT looking slightly north of due west (see image below, same settings as before).

The shape of the constellation of Aries is to the left of it. This shows that the auroral arc stretched from due west to due east and probably up to an altitude of 70 degrees at least.

From about 22:30 UT the aurora began to dissipate, however it did continue to be visible. The magnetometer at Sumburgh Head was 550.2 nT at 23:00 UT and 548.8 nT at midnight. Although I stopped taking pictures after 22:20, I popped my head outdoors at 23:26 and 23:55 and it seemed that the aurora was still occurring reasonably strongly behind a much thicker layer of cloud. Judging from the spaceweather the auroral storm continued right through the 20th of January and into the morning of the 21st."

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026