NGC2175 Monkey Head nebula is in the boundary of Orion constellation – but very close to Gemini, under they feet I would say 🙂 In absolute terms this is giant blob of interstellar matter (mainly hydrogen and oxygen) that shines about 6400 light years away from us. It is catalogued in NGC at 2174 position, but its nickname is Monkey Head. It is definitely something, but I would be very careful with naming this shape.
My picture is a composite of 400 minutes with Ha filter, 200 minutes with Oiii filter and 120 minutes of RGB signal. I would like to picture it under really dark sky without using narrowbands, because there is some reflection nebulosity to be discovered that is almost invisible in this narrowband filter composite. Maybe some day I will do it like it should be – in the dark.
Large version https://astrojolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-01-06-N2174HORGB.jpg
Clear skies!
