The NGC 2170 area is an interesting, but very faint, complex of emission, reflection and dark nebulae in Monoceros. This area is called the Angel Nebula. Hold your mouse cursor over the image to see object identifications.

NGC 2170 lies 110 arcminutes west of Gamma Monocerotis. Technically, NGC 2170 is only the small patch of blue reflection nebulosity at far left center and not the entire complex seen in this image.

NGC 2170 was discovered by William Herschel in 1784.

LBN 999 is the large area of red emission, blue reflection and dark nebulae to the southeast (above right) of NGC 2170 that covers an area of 15 x 10 arcminutes.

Other nebulae in the complex include the VdB 68, VdB 69, NGC 2182, NGC 2183, NGC 2185, and LBN 1000.

This entire area is part of a large molecular cloud, Mon R2, that is a star-forming region in Monoceros located relatively nearby at a distance of 2,400 light-years away. The nebulae are illuminated by hot, young B-type stars that have formed out of gas and dust in the region of the molecular cloud.

South is to the top in the above image.

NGC 2170 Area Catalogs: NGC 2170, LBN 994 Common Names: Angel Nebula Object Type: EN, RN, DN Complex Area Size: 79' x 52' Constellation: Monoceros Image Field Centered At: RA: 06h 09m 33s Dec: -06° 22' 13"