This is a picture of the Christmas Tree Cluster and the Cone Nebula (upside-down at at the top), jointly catalogued as NGC 2264. It's a star-forming region containing both young and old stars.
I took this picture last month and it plainly didn't have enough exposure time. I had planned to do it over when I had an entire night at my disposal, but by the time a month had passed it was even lower in the horizon and my window had passed. I'll give it another try in autumn or winter, when it will be visible all night.
looks great to me!
Anyone else seeing the face below the cone?
Please tell us again what your hardware setup is for astrophotography and how you post process. Thanks
Still lovely...reminds me of the cover of The Mote in God's Eye.
Thank you for that reference. I haven’t thought of that book in many years.