Dale — Among Stars

Astrophotography · Edinburgh, Scotland

← All photos
nebula · NGC 2174

Monkey Head Nebula

9 Mar 2026 Edinburgh
Monkey Head Nebula (NGC 2174) — astrophotography from Edinburgh

NGC 2174 in Orion is an emission nebula and star-forming region around 6,400 light-years away. Its sculpted pillars and cavities are driven by ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from the young cluster NGC 2175 embedded within. Hubble Space Telescope imagery of its pillars — evocative of those in the Eagle Nebula — revealed them to be dense columns of gas being slowly photo-evaporated from the outside in.

Open in gallery viewer Field notes
← Pacman Nebula Caroline's Rose Cluster →