IC 1805 – The Heart Nebula

Seventy-five hundred light years away in the Cassiopeia constellation lives one of the most iconic objects in the night sky—IC 1805, the Heart Nebula.

The center of the Heart contains Melotte 15, one of the more beautiful formations available to amateur astronomers. In the lower right, you can see the Fish Head Nebula, NGC 896.

The Heart is located just west of the Soul Nebula, Westerhout 5, which is not in the frame. These formations comprise a gigantic emission region several times the size of the full moon from our perspective. Scientists refer to this as the “W4 chimney” because they believe gasses from the galactic plan are funneled high above that plane by this formation.

The Heart has also been instructive to astronomers regarding the mechanisms of new star creation. The region is a very active location for star formation. Radiation from the massive stars that formed at the center have blown out a large bubble in the center of the gas cloud and sculpted pillars at its edges. That has forced gas at the edges to cool and condense, creating the perfect environment for new stars to take shape.