The Rosette Nebula in Monoceros | Kitt Peak National Observatory

The Rosette Nebula in Monoceros | Kitt Peak National Observatory

The appropriately named Rosette Nebula is, not unlike a newly bloomed flower, a place of newfound life. Many of the stars within this wreath of gas have just formed. Their energetic winds and emissions of ultraviolet (UV) radiation are quickly blowing away the surrounding clouds of gas to reveal a new cluster of stars. Many thicker parts of the cloud resist their ultimate demise, and remain in radial structures stubborn to relent to the impressive forces arrayed against them. The initial mass of gas clouds such as this determine how many stars are formed within. A very massive cloud will likely form many stars. Here, the stars in the heart of the Rosette nebula are blowing away the building blocks of more stars and have halted most other star formation. However, there are many globules of gas (Bok globules) that may contain individual stars still in the process of forming. Bok globules are isolated and relatively small dark nebulae containing dense cosmic dust and gas where star formation can take place.

The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is an H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. An H II region is a region of interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionized. The open cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter. The nebula has a shape reminiscent of a human skull, and is sometimes referred to as the "Skull Nebula". It is not to be confused with NGC 246 that is also nicknamed the "Skull Nebula".

This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center in Arizona.

Learn more about Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO):
https://kpno.noirlab.edu/

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Walter Mulligan/Flynn Haase
Release Date: June 12, 2014

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #RosetteNebula #Caldwell49 #StellarNurseries #BokGlobules #MonocerosConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #KPNO #KittPeakNationalObservatory #Arizona #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education