Monkey Head Nebula

The Monkey Head Nebula (NGC 2174) is an emission nebula situated roughly 6.4 thousand light-years away in the constellation Orion. Its structure includes dense dust lanes and gas clouds that resemble the shape of a primate’s head. The region serves as a violent stellar nursery where young, massive stars emit intense ultraviolet radiation, carving the surrounding hydrogen gas into intricate pillars and ridges that exhibit a vivid red glow. The energetic stellar winds from these newborn stars will eventually disperse the nebula’s material, causing the "monkey" shape to fade away. photo was acquired on Dec. 21, 2025 using a Seestar S50 telescope and the total integrated time was 3 hour under Bortle 7 skies.

Seestar S50 telescope

Internal Function "AI Denoise" of the telescope used to reduce noise and glare.