NGC 2237 just does not have a romantic ring to it. However, if you call it the Rosette nebula and place it within the constellation Monoceros, or the Unicorn, then it sounds much better.
NGC 2237, or the Unicorn’s Rose, is a large cloud of gas that is approximately 5,000 light years away from Earth. Within this large nebula, many new stars are being formed. The Unicorn’s Rose is too faint for the eye to see. However, at its core lies NGC 2244, which is a cluster of young stars. This cluster can be seen through a small telescope.
This is an image captured from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope. This space-born telescope has a 16 inch diameter and surveys light in the infrared wavelengths.
The streak seen at lower left is the trail of a satellite, captured as WISE snapped the multiple frames that make up this view.
This image is a four-color composite created by all four of WISE’s infrared detectors. Color is representational: blue and cyan represent infrared light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is dominated by light from stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, which is mostly light from warm dust.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team
