December: The Monkey Head and the Jellyfish

One would think that artists have run out of space on Earth and are beginning to decorate the cosmos. On either side of the border between Gemini and Orion lie The Monkey's Head and The Medusa, two objects of similar apparent size (almost twice the size of the full Moon), but very different. The Jellyfish (IC443) is a supernova remnant, located about 5 000 light-years away, estimated to have exploded more than 30 000 years ago.

The monkey's head (NGC 2174) is a star-forming region about 6,400 light-years away, where young stars are forming. The extremes of the stellar life cycle.

Author: Daniel López / IAC (Astrograph STC - UC3)