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Credit & Copyright: Jeff Horne &
Drew Evans
Explanation:
What excites the Heart Nebula?
First, the large emission nebula
on the upper left, catalogued as
IC 1805, looks somewhat like a human heart.
The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its
most prominent element,
hydrogen,
but this long-exposure image was also blended with light
emitted by sulfur (yellow) and oxygen (blue).
In the
center of the Heart Nebula
are young stars from the open star cluster
Melotte 15
that are eroding away several picturesque
dust pillars with their atom-exciting
energetic light and winds.
The Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away toward the
constellation
of Cassiopeia.
This
wide field image shows much more, though, including the
Fishhead Nebula just below the Heart, a
supernova remnant on the lower left, and three
planetary nebulas on the image right.
Taken over 57 nights,
this image is so deep, though, that it clearly shows fainter long and complex
filaments.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Heart Nebula - emission nebula
Publications with words: Heart Nebula - emission nebula
See also: