Melotte 15 in the Heart
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
Cosmic clouds form fantastic shapes in the
central regions of emission nebula IC 1805. 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
narrowband and broadband telescopic images, the view spans about 30 light-years
and includes emission from ionized hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen atoms mapped to green,
red, and blue hues in the popular Hubble Palette.
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 boastful
constellation Cassiopeia.
