A tribute to Punch


A bright, textured cloud of glowing gas fills most of the frame, forming a rounded shape that loosely suggests a monkey’s head against a dark background. The center is brighter and more structured, with a blue interior puncuated with darker knots and ridges. The outer regions are redder and fade into soft, wispy edges. A sparse scattering of small, sharp stars is visible across the nebula and the darker surrounding sky.

Katelyn Beecroft from London, Ontario, Canada

The Monkey Head Nebula (NGC 2174) lies roughly 5,000 light-years away in Orion. The nebula surrounds the young open cluster NGC 2175, and its star-forming dust clouds and wind-blown cavities suggests the outline of a simian face. The image comprises 6¾ hours of data taken in the Hubble palette with a 2.8-inch f/5.6 scope. The imager said she chose this object to honor Punch, the Japanese macaque at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan who developed an attachment to an IKEA orangutang plushie.