In the center area of this rose like nebula is a cluster of a couple dozen bright stars. (designated separately as NGC 2244). These stars, along with at least 10,000 smaller ones all formed from the same gas cloud around the same time about four million years ago. The left over gas has been blown away from the central area, is now called the "Rosette Nebula". The solar winds and radiation from the bright stars has blown out the hydrogen and other original gases into a bubble around and behind the central birthplace. The ultraviolet portion of the radiation (notice the slightly bluish cast around the central area) causes the hydrogen to fluoresce red. The Rosette Nebula is can be found in the winter Milky Way East of Orion, just to the left of Betelgeuse, the left shoulder star of Orion. This image is about 130 light-years across. The stars and bubble are about 5000 light years away. It appears almost half again bigger than the full moon, however it's too dim to be seen with the unaided eye. You'll need a 3" (75mm) or larger scope to gather enough light to begin to make the nebula visible, but the brightest stars of the cluster can be easily spotted with ordinary binoculars.

10"" F8 Meade SCT, Canon 5D Mark II at Prime focus, IDAS P2 light pollution filter.
 800 sec, ISO 1600
 12 photos averaged together, then brightness and contrast enhanced, cropped and downsized to fit screen