The majestic Snowflake Cluster (NGC2264), was born in a massive cloud of gas and dust known as nebula (milky pink in the image), as the stars are born they blow up and blast lanes of gas into the dusty nebula, which leave streaks across the nebula.
Bright stars from the Snowflake Cluster are spread across the image. These stars have heated up and destroyed the gas and dust mountains in which they formed. The dust mountain at the bottom of this image, which looks abit like the stem of a tree, is the famous Cone Nebula, it is pointing toward a bright star near the centre. The wavy, dust lanes around the star look like the snow filled branches of a tree. The clouds near the top look snow clouds.
So the whole image looks like a winter wonderland of it snowing down onto a tree beneath. These patterns result from the tumultuous unrest that accompanies the formation of the open cluster of stars.
This entire region is located about 2,500 light years away. So the light in the image left this nebula at the time Daniel was alive and we only just captured it this week.
Dedicated to Hannah Jane, for she is my little artist.
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| Natural Version RGBHa 114min |