NGC 2244 – Stars of Rosette

Taken with the deep field RC telescope at 1600mm focal length. This image turned out surprisingly ‘vivid’. I was sort of amazed how little I had to do after combining the images and decided to leave most of this SHO since it was so colorful.

The reddish sulfur and hydrogen regions blend for orange and yellow, then turn into the stronger green hydrogen regions. The purple is a blend of the Sulfur and Oxygen which is also very unique. Towards the center it reveals the teal blue of Oxygen dominating the core.

Dark dense cold gases get so thick that they create these molecular clouds you see as black tentacles. Eventually these molecular clouds can get so dense and thick they will form new stars as well.