Cosmic Reef: NGC 2014 & NGC 2020

Image of NGC 2014 and NGC 2020, also known as the "Cosmic Reef", captured with CHI-1.

Combi of 3 one-click observations.

Total exposure time 190 minutes.

SHO 6:6:7 subs of 600s.

One can see the emission nebula NGC 2014 and its blue neighbor NGC 2020. Some of the stars in NGC 2014 are huge. The nebula's sparkling centerpiece is a grouping of bright, hefty stars, each 10 to 20 times more massive than our Sun. The seemingly isolated blue nebula at lower left (NGC 2020) has been created by a solitary mammoth star 200,000 times brighter than our Sun. The blue gas was ejected by the star through a series of eruptive events during which it lost part of its outer envelope of material.

On top one can see NGC 2021 , a rather small open star cluster.