This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Sh2-282 is an HII emission nebula. The red hydrogen gas is energized by the intense light from the bright blue stars that surround it. Several pillars can be seen embedded in the gas that are being sculpted from the radiation and solar wind from the bright blue star in the upper-left corner of the image. The image was generated with observations in the B (blue), I (orange) and Hydrogen-Alpha (red) filters. In this image, North is up, East is to the left.

Sh2 -282 is a visible emission nebula in the constellation of the Unicorn .

It is observed in the central-northern part of the constellation, about 3 ° south of the Rosetta Nebula ; it can be photographed with some difficulty through a high-powered amateur telescope equipped with special filters and long exposures are required. Being only 1.5 degrees north, it can be observed from all populated areas of the Earth with ease; the most favorable period for its observation in the evening sky is from December to April.

It is an H II region extended for about 50 light years , inside which several cometary structures are known, which indicate the presence of erosive phenomena caused by the stellar wind of the nearest massive spectral stars O and B, and in particular of HD 47432, a variable bluepulsating giant visible on the northeastern side of the nebula; this star has an average magnitude of 6.21 and is located at a distance of 1250 parsecs (4075 light years). The cloud is in the same galactic environment as the Monoceros OB2 association, linked to the Rosetta Nebulaand located on the inner edge of the Perseus Arm , and of which the HD 47432 star would also be a part; the nebulous system also includes NGC 2282 , a reflection nebula placed a little further to the east.