Melotte 15 in the
Heart
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
Cosmic clouds seem to form fantastic shapes in the central regions of emission nebula IC 1805. Of
course, the clouds are sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from massive hot
stars in the nebula's newborn star cluster, Melotte 15.
About 1.5 million years
young, the cluster stars are toward the right in this colorful skyscape, along with dark dust clouds in silhouette against glowing atomic gas.
A composite of narrow
and broad band telescopic images, the view spans about 30 light-years and
includes emission from hydrogen in green, sulfur in red, and oxygen in blue
hues.
Wider field images reveal that IC 1805's simpler, overall outline
suggests its popular name - The Heart Nebula. IC 1805 is located about 7,500 light years
away toward the constellation Cassiopeia.
Image Credit & Copyright: Stefano Cancelli, Paul Mortfield