My last blog post showcased a visit to the constellation of Cassiopeia where we looked at the beautiful pair, Heart and Soul Nebulas. Let’s take a closer look at the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). The nebula’s intense color and shape is said to be the result of radiation associated with a small group of stars near the nebula’s center. This small group of stars is well-known and designated as Melotte 15, otherwise affectionately known as the heart of the Heart Nebula. Melotte 15 contains a few bright stars that are in the range of 50 times the mass of the Sun… wow 😳 !
The brightest part of the nebula (located to the bottom right of the image) is designated as IC 1795: the Fishhead Nebula. Personally, it resembles a whole fish, but it is definitely an eye catcher. The Heart Nebula is known to be an active star forming region located approximately 7,500 light years from Earth
Gear: AA Hypercam 26C, SW Evostar 72ED, iOptron HEM27 mount, SVbony Ha and Oiii filters (7nm); SVbony 120mm guidescope + ZWO 120mc
Exif: 2.5 hrs each Ha and Oiii (5-min subs); Gain 200; Offset 3, TEC @ 10 degrees
AstroPixelProcessor, PixInsight, Photoshop
Great work! I absolutely love the details and colors on this shot! 👏🏽👏🏽👌🏽
Thank you 🙏🏾
Excellent! That answers a lot of my questions! Definitely a spectacular object or group of objects! 😃😃😎
Indeed. But you were spot on. You’re quite a knowledge bank on astronomy in my book. Cheers!