In the Heart of the Heart Nebula
Explanation:
What's that inside the Heart Nebula?
First, the large emission nebula dubbed
IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a
human heart.
It's shape perhaps fitting of the
Valentine's Day,
this heart glows brightly in red light
emitted by its most prominent element:
hydrogen.
The red glow and the larger shape are all created by a
small group of stars near the
nebula's center.
In the heart of the
Heart
Nebula are young stars from the open star cluster
Melotte 15 that are eroding away several picturesque
dust pillars with their energetic light and winds.
The
open cluster of stars contains a few
bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun,
many dim stars only a fraction of the mass of our Sun, and an
absent microquasar
that was expelled millions of years ago.
The
Heart Nebula is located about 7,500
light years away toward the
constellation
of the mythological Queen of Aethiopia (
Cassiopeia).
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
