S star Monocerotis and nebula - Fox Fur nebula in Monoceros - The region to...

S star Monocerotis and nebula - Fox Fur nebula in Monoceros - The region to the right of the bright star S Monocerotis is called Fox Fur nebula. This region where gas mixes with interstellar dust is located above the Cone nebula, about 2600 light years from Earth. Image obtained with a 50 cm telescope, composite of several images. The region around the 4.7 magnitude star S Mon is a fascinating mixture of red fluorescent hydrogen and dark, obscuring dust lanes. Some dust patches are close enough to bright stars to reflect light from them; these appear blue for the same reason that the day - time sky is blue - because some of the interstellar particles preferentially scatter blue light. The dust is mixed with gas and this affects the appearance of the emission nebulae, giving some of the faintest a curious 'fox fur' texture in this photograph. S Mon is part of a young open cluster of stars named NGC 2264 located about 2600 light years away, just north of the Cone nebula