Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas)  ·  Contains:  IC 1795  ·  IC 1805  ·  NGC 896
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IC 1805 - The Heart Nebula, Robert Fidler
IC 1805 - The Heart Nebula
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IC 1805 - The Heart Nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
IC 1805 - The Heart Nebula, Robert Fidler
IC 1805 - The Heart Nebula
Powered byPixInsight

IC 1805 - The Heart Nebula

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Description

IC 1805, known as the heart nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation Cassiopeia.  Discovered in 1787 by William Herschel, the red glow of this 7500 light year distant target is caused by the radiation emanating from a small cluster of stars near the nebula's center.  The cluster is known as Collinder 26 or Melotte 15 contains a small handful of stars the range up to nearly 50 times more massive than our sun.

The Heart Nebula is one of the few nebulae in the night sky that really does resemble its namesake.  I had been itching for a month to get back out an image, with weather, the moon, and schedules preventing me from driving out into the high desert of southern California.  But I finally managed to get out, and I am so glad I did.  The conditions were great, and I was able to capture my longest exposure yet.  I don't have the reducer for the 80PHQ, so I had to do a two-panel mosaic.  This being my second time processing, I'm much happier with the results here.  Thanks to Russel Astrophotography for his great mosaic tutorial.  Now that fall is approaching I can barely wait for all the great targets in the night sky.

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IC 1805 - The Heart Nebula, Robert Fidler

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