Dust Sculptures in the Rosette Nebula

This part of the Rosette Nebula also known as NGC 2237 contains sculpted globules of dark dust and gas that are slowly being eroded away by the energetic light and winds of nearby massive stars. I am waiting for the Rosette to become visible again over the winter months to capture SII and OIII emission line data.

Right ascension: 06h 31m 44s | Declination: +05° 08′ 49″ | Distance: 5,000 Light Years
Field of view: 57 x 38 arcmin

Camera: SBIG ST-10XME
Telescope: William Optics Megrez 120 F/7.5
Guiding: Starlight Xpress Active Optics (SXV-AO-LF) unit
Filters: Baader Ha (7nm)
Exposures: Ha 26 x 15 min
Total exposure: 6.5 hours
Image composition: Monochrome Ha
Scale: 1.56 arcsec/pixel
Image acquired: January 2012 from Bristol (UK)

Image capture with MaxIm DL, FocusMax, ACP; Image processed with MaxIm DL (DDP, Fat Tail Deconvolution), Photoshop CS4.