NGC 2264 identifies two astronomical objects as a single object: the Cone Nebula, and the Christmas Tree Cluster. Two other objects are within this designation but not officially included, the Snowflake Cluster, and the Fox Fur Nebula.
The Christmas Tree star formation consists of young stars obscured by heavy layers of dust clouds. These dust clouds, along with hydrogen and helium are producing luminous new stars. The combination of dense clouds and an array of colors creates a color map filled with varying wavelengths
| Object | NGC2264 Christmas Tree Nebula |
| Constellation: | Monoceros |
| Position: | RA 06h 40m 52s Dec 09° 52' 00'' |
| Apparent Size: | 20 arcmins |
| Apparent Magnitude: | 3.9 |
| Distance in light years: | 2350 ly |
| Photo Data | |
| Date of Expose: | 22./23./24./25.12.2023 |
| Location: |
IC Astronomy Observatory Spain Oria, Almería, Spain , ASL 1250m GPS: 37.4988 N / -2.42178 W |
| Telescope: | SPA-1-CMOS: Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4, f/d 3.6/382mm |
| Camera: | QHY 600M Pro, 3.76μm, 9576px x 6382px, @ T sensor = -15°C |
| Field of View: | 5.35° x 3.57° |
| Pixel Scale/Resolution: | 2.01 arcsec/px |
| Expose frames/times: | S 24x300s, H 24x300s, O 23x300s |
| Total expose: | 5h 55min |
| Filter: | Astrodon SII, Ha, OIII |
| Mount: | Paramount MX+ |
| Software: | Siril 1.4, Photoshop CC |
| Remarks: |
© 2025 Peter Cerveny