GZOD: Herbig-Haro object HH124

[JeanTate]

This is the Galaxy Zoo forum's Object of the Day for Friday 9th April 2010, posted by LizPeter (with a little help from Mukund Vedapudi).

LizPeter writes: "HH objects are a type of emission nebula created by jets of material ejected by newborn stars colliding with the interstellar medium. The gasses thrown off by the star are normally invisible but where the ejected gas hits other gas clouds it heats up creating beautiful knots and whorls of glowing nebulosity. Ironically this process actually leaves the new star more stable. This is a lovely large example showing an arch of gas as it hits the nearby nebula (Christmas Tree we believe)." (HH=Herbig-Haro, named after the two astronomers who did so much work cataloging them).

Can you spot HH124, in the larger view?

[Ann]

Right, yes, I can see it, pretty much square in the middle of the picture.

But ah, NGC 2264, O7 star S Monocerotis and surrounding nebulosity!!!

Click to view full size image

And HH124 is near the top in the image I posted.

Ann

[JeanTate]

There's a very famous nebula near the bottom - anyone know what it is?

[neufer]

There's a very famous nebula near the bottom - anyone know what it is?

<<The Cone Nebula is an H II region in the constellation of Monoceros [the Uni-Cone?]. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 26, 1785, at which time he designated it H V.27. The nebula is located about 800 parsecs or 2,600 light-years away from Earth. The Cone Nebula forms part of the nebulosity surrounding the Christmas Tree Cluster. The designation of NGC 2264 in the New General Catalogue refers to both objects and not the nebula alone. The diffuse Cone Nebula, so named because of its apparent shape, lies in the southern part of NGC 2264, the northern part being the magnitude-3.9 Christmas Tree Cluster. It is in the northern part of Monoceros, just north of the midpoint of a line from Procyon to Betelgeuse. The cone's shape comes from a dark absorption nebula consisting of cold molecular hydrogen and dust in front of a faint emission nebula containing hydrogen ionized by S Monocerotis, the brightest star of NGC 2264. The faint nebula is approximately seven light-years long (with an apparent length of 10 arcminutes), and is 2,700 light-years away from Earth.>>

• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040529.html
  http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081225.html
  http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100406.html
  http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081123.html
  NGC 2238 : the Rosette nebula =>
  http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080422.html

[bystander]

Cone Nebula, part of NGC 2264.

[Ann]

Cone Nebula, part of NGC 2264.

Which is why I mentioned S Monocerotis and NGC 2264, but not the Cone Nebula.

I just love O stars! They are amazing! And BLUE!!!Anyway, without S Monocerotis, there wouldn't have been a Cone Nebula.

Adam Block has taken an amazing image of NGC 2264 (including the Cone Nebula), old yellow star cluster Trumpler 5 and young blue starforming region IC 2169. Note the brightness of Herbig-Haro Object HH124 in Adam Block's image.

http://www.caelumobservatory.com/gallery/apogee.shtml

Ann

[neufer]

Cone Nebula, part of NGC 2264.

Which is why I mentioned S Monocerotis and NGC 2264, but not the Cone Nebula.

I just love O stars! They are amazing! And BLUE!!!

Anyway, without S Monocerotis, there wouldn't have been a Cone Nebula.

• Annie-way? : http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010424.html

Explanation: The massive star NGC 2264 IRS, seen by Hubble's infrared camera in 1997,
is the likely source of the wind sculpting the Cone Nebula and lies off the top of the image.

[b][color=#FF0000][size=150]NGC 2264 IRS[/size][/color][/b]

---

<<June 9, 1997: The Hubble telescope's infrared camera has peered into the Cone Nebula, revealing a stunning picture of six babies, Sun-like stars surrounding their mother, a bright, massive star. Known as NGC 2264 IRS, the massive star triggered the creation of these baby stars by releasing high-speed particles of dust and gas during its formative years.

The image on the left, taken in visible light by a terrestrial telescope, shows the Cone Nebula, located 2,500 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros. The white box pinpoints the location of the star nursery, which cannot be seen in this image because dust and gas obscure it.

The infrared image on the right shows the massive star ? the brightest source in the region ? and the stars formed by its outflow. >>

[JeanTate]

This particular Herbig-Haro object has not featured in any APOD (that I could discover), but HH34 (or HH-34) does feature in November 29 1999's APOD, and HH 49/50 in 2006 February 3's.