Ngc2244

The Rosette Nebula is one of the more spectacular nebulae in the night sky. It is a huge cloud of glowing gas heated and ionized by stars created only about five million years ago when a giant molecular cloud collapsed to form a new cluster of stars.

The Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237) is a large spherical H II region (circular in appearance) located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula’s matter.