The Christmas Tree Cluster and Cone Nebula

The designation of NGC 2264 in the New General Catalogue refers to both objects, the Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster, forming the iconic structure in the center. While not officially part of this designation, the Fox Fur Nebula is also a prominent part of this region.

The Cone Nebula is an H-II region. It’s shape is created by a dark absorption nebula and dust in front of the faint emission nebula.

Left from the central structure, there’s a small bright nebula, easy to miss. This is Hubble’s Variable Nebula, named after Edwin Hubble, who studied it in the early 20th century - the first recorded observation however was done by William Herschel in 1783. The nebula is illuminated by the star R Monocerotis, which is a young variable star, and changes it’s appearance visibly over just weeks.

Finally, below the central structure and right from those dark nebulae, there’s NGC 2259, an open star cluster.