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FEBRUARY 2016 OBSERVERS CHALLENGE – NGC-2237

The Rosette Nebula – NGC 2237 – Monoceros
Date: February 27, 2016
Telescope: 10-inch reflector
Eyepiece: 32 mm
Magnification: 36x
Field of View: 1.7º
Naked Eye Limiting Magnitude: 5.0

Faint circular nebula over 1º in diameter, surrounding open cluster NGC 2244. The cluster contains twelve brighter members with many fainter stars. Two pairs of wide doubles are located on the NW edge of the cluster. 

Faint circular nebula over 1º in diameter, surrounding open cluster NGC 2244. The cluster contains twelve brighter members with many fainter stars. Two pairs of wide doubles are located on the NW edge of the cluster.

A low power wide field eyepiece with an O-III filter are essential in seeing the vast wealth of faint detail found in the nebula. The SE section is the brightest and most concentrated. I have found that covering my head with a cloth improves the contrast of the nebula significantly. The texture of the Rosette is very uneven, with many lighter and darker areas.

Many amateurs feel that the Rosette can only be observed successfully under a very dark sky. However, I’ve enjoyed observing it many times over the past twenty five years from my moderately light polluted backyard, using a nebula filter.

Roger Ivester

Pencil sketch using a 10-inch reflector from my moderately light polluted backyard.  

The following images courtesy of Dr. James Dire:  SV102 Apo refractor:  Exposure 240 minutes (24 x 10)

Below:  Williams Optics 71 mm f/4.9 Apo refractor.  180 minutes (18 x 10) 

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