This image shows the amazing filamentary structure of NGC 2237 (the Rosette Nebula), 2,600 light years from Earth. The nebulaΓÇÖs emission is excited by radiation from the central star cluster, NGC 2244. The gas that makes up this nebula is part of the same cloud from which NGC 2244 formed. The hole at the center of this nebula was probably hollowed out by stellar winds from NGC 2244ΓÇÖs hot, young stars. The intense radiation from these stars drives gas near the surface of the star outward. Our Sun also generates a wind, but the Sun is older and cooler than the stars in the center of the Rosette Nebula, so its wind is weaker.
Look for the black, slightly squiggly shapes near the nebulaΓÇÖs
