NGC 2264 including the Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster (upside down in this image) with S Monocerotis at the very top of the image (and the base of the Christmas tree)
S Monocerotis is found within an open cluster and the Washington Double Star Catalog lists many companion stars.[18] The closest and brightest is S Mon B, magnitude 7.8 and 3 arcseconds away. It is classified as B2 main sequence star with a mass of 7.31 M☉. Designated component C is an 11th-magnitude B8V star.[6] The cluster contains another dozen or so 9th and 10th magnitude stars and many fainter stars.
S Monocerotis A is a spectroscopic binary system with an eccentric orbit of about 112 years.[13] Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as the MK standard for O7 by which other stars are classified.[19] It is also an irregular variable star with a range of less than a tenth of a magnitude. The orbital parameters can be used to derive the masses of the two stars, giving 31 M☉ and 11 M☉.[6]
The distance to S Monocerotis and NGC 2264 has been derived in various ways, including dynamical parallax and isochrone fitting. These consistently give estimates of 700 - 900 parsecs, although this is double the likely distance derived from the Hipparcos parallax measurements.[9]Gaia Early Data Release 3 contains parallaxes for the companions components B and C of 1.4 mas and 1.5 mas respectively, consistent with the expected distance to the cluster.
^ abcdeHøg, E.; Fabricius, C.; Makarov, V. V.; Urban, S.; Corbin, T.; Wycoff, G.; Bastian, U.; Schwekendiek, P.; Wicenec, A. (2000). "The Tycho-2 catalogue of the 2.5 million brightest stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 355: L27. Bibcode:2000A&A...355L..27H. doi:10.1888/0333750888/2862. ISBN0333750888.
^ abcdCite error: The named reference orbit2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abSamus, N. N.; Durlevich, O. V.; et al. (2009). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: General Catalogue of Variable Stars (Samus+ 2007-2013)". VizieR On-line Data Catalog: B/GCVS. Originally Published in: 2009yCat....102025S. 1. Bibcode:2009yCat....102025S.
^Sota, A.; Maíz Apellániz, J.; Walborn, N. R.; Alfaro, E. J.; Barbá, R. H.; Morrell, N. I.; Gamen, R. C.; Arias, J. I. (2011). "The Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey. I. Classification System and Bright Northern Stars in the Blue-violet at R ~ 2500". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement. 193 (2): 24. arXiv:1101.4002. Bibcode:2011ApJS..193...24S. doi:10.1088/0067-0049/193/2/24. S2CID119248206.
^ abcCite error: The named reference msc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abCite error: The named reference aaass61 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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^ abcdCite error: The named reference hipparcos was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Feinstein, A.; Vazquez, R. A.; Benvenuto, O. G. (1986). "Of-stars in young open clusters". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 159: 223. Bibcode:1986A&A...159..223F.
^ abcCite error: The named reference edr3b was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcCite error: The named reference edr3c was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abCite error: The named reference ma2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcHerrero, A.; Kudritzki, R. P.; Vilchez, J. M.; Kunze, D.; Butler, K.; Haser, S. (1992). "Intrinsic parameters of galactic luminous OB stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 261: 209. Bibcode:1992A&A...261..209H.