The Cone Nebula lies in the southern part of a star cluster known as the Christmas Tree cluster. The Cone Nebula was discovered by William Herschel in 1785 and is about 2,400 light years away from us. This region contains clouds of interstellar hydrogen gas, mixed with small grains of dust. The Cone Nebula belongs to a much larger complex, which is a region of active star formation. Since infrared light can penetrate the dust in star-forming regions, infrared observations can provide us with a deeper view into objects like the Cone Nebula.
This image from the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) was taken at 8.28 µm. and covers about 1 x 1 degree in the sky.
Credit: MSX/IPAC/NASA