| Telescope: | Canada-France-Hawaii, f/36 |
| Date: | November 20, 1995 |
| Instrument: | University of Hawaii 13-channel AO system and 1024x1024 IR camera |
| Wavelength: | 1.6 microns |
| Total exposure: | 24 minutes |
| Scale: | The image is 38" wide |
| Orientation: | North up East Left |
| Observers: | L.M. Close, F.Roddier, C Roddier, E. Graves, M. Northcott |
| Reference: | L.M. Close, et al. 1997, ApJ 489, 210-221 |
This is an UHAO image of the massive (10 Mo) young star R Mon and its reflection nebula NGC 2261 -commonly known as Hubble's variable Nebula. This 38" (east to west) image has a resolution of 0.15", and has an exposure time of 20 min. at 1.6 um. To increase the display contrast the color scale has been wrapped around twice to show the faintest features of the nebula. The dynamic range of this image is 1.5 million. Slightly to the west of R Mon a new companion T Tauri star was discovered (0.69" away and 5.3 mags -131 times fainter), it is visible as a small black dot to the right of the core of R Mon. Also visible in this image are large and small scale twisted filaments coming out of R Mon. These dusty filaments may trace complex magnetic fields. Near R Mon these filaments may be the source of the shadows which make the nebula's appearence change with time. For more information about R Mon see Close et al. 1997b, ApJ, Nov. 1 1997.
