NGC 2264, The Christmas Tree cluster
Sketch and Details by Kiminori Ikebe, translation by Eiji Kato
NGC 2264 in Monoceros: The Christmas Tree
Mr. Ikebe wrote: (Translation from Japanese by Eiji Kato)
A beautiful cluster with bright stars arranged in a shape of a
Christmas tree. A bright star is shining at the foot of where the
star of Bethlehem is located. This star is S Mon. The cluster is
very large and fits a 1.6-degree field of view well. It is bright
and has an interesting shape; one of the best open clusters. The
number of the stars in this cluster is not particularly large but
its distribution is quite interesting. With this instrument the
diffuse nebula is completely invisible, but NGC 2261 is detected in
the south outside the field of view.
This sketch was made by Kiminori Ikebe using 30×125 Binoculars on
1996.01.21 01:12
Oh Christmas is correct as all can see in this beautiful sketch. Great sketch Mr. Ikebe.
Frank